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and finished... back together and looking much better than that awful tesco express looking logo...

Benylin & The Jets — Elton John

Just seen on FB, Vintage have announced two new bass models at NAMM, the Supreme (semi) and the Callen. The Callen definitely has my attention.... 😏

Fazley Mini Pedal Case... Joyo Irontune > Future Chorus > Time Magic Delay > Nebulous Phaser > Orange Juice Amp Sim Edit: Had to drill some holes for the 9v Daisy... Sorted.

Essex Machine — James Brown

I've played 12lbs+ basses. It's all about the strap - wide, cushioned - spreads the weight. To this end I use Neotech Mega straps - neoprene and memory foam. I quite like the "grounded" feeling I get when wearing a heavier bass, like I'm the anchor. It's not a competition though, some people shouldn't wear a heavier bass if they have shoulder or back issues - it doesn't make anyone a hero or somehow more worthy - listen to your body.

Local Facebook score. Always loved the Hartke HA heads. This one needs a new valve…but came with a 410XL cab…🥳 needs a service but feck me it’s decent

Covering a blemish in the finish in this instance. But they can serve any purpose Share them here. Or just tell us all how much you hate them, if that gives you joy.

Can't afford it, don't need it at all, I already have everything I need. Bought it anyway. headless bass itch well and truly scratched. Series S4000 I believe, serial number is 235... I have no idea how to age it though, any ideas? I had no idea these things were so heavy though! I changed the batteries and one of the connectors fell apart as I unclipped it, so it now has shiny new battery clips but everything else is perfect. Can't wait to wheel it out at a rehearsal.

Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehe. He said supreme semi.

After years of rugby and general wear and tear I have shoulder and lower back problems and struggle with anything over 8.5lbs. I’ve fallen in love with many a bass over 9lbs, taken it home and thought “this time it will be different”. It never is and after much soul-searching and disappointment they’ve been moved on because I just can’t manage them without causing issues.

Patience ～ Guns 'n' Roses

Aesthetically, the ST:TOS communicators of the guitar FX world.

Hated the original natural alder so I stickerbombed it

Nothing better than playing in a band with good musicians! It lifts your own game, and makes it easier to play with them.

Come flu with me- Frank Sinatra

It's here! After a little wait & as usual, exquisite luthier work by the team at Overwater Basses & continued support. We have an Overwater Custom J5 Fretless with a few custom options. 35" Scale Walnut top & headstock facing Swapping out the bridge position J pickup and dropping in a Musicman pickup. Added passive tone control (as usual for myself) Luminlay sidedots This bass was specced & delivered very quickly for a specific tour to start shortly this year. It was commissioned due to the need of a 5 string fretless bass for quite a few tracks. Have two fretless basses in my collection already - 1976 Musicman Stingray & an early 1970's P Bass. Both four strings so not ideal for the job. I would like to send my thanks to Kirsty, Martin, Chris & the whole team at Overwater Basses for the amazing basses they make daily & for the continued support from the company also. Full Specification - 5 String 35” Scale Length Neck - Standard Bolt On One Piece Maple Straight Headstock with Walnut Veneer Fretless (24 fret neck) 46mm Nut Width 18mm Bridge Spacing Plain Unlined Ebony Fingerboard Luminlay Side Dots Body - Swamp Ash Walnut Top Electronics - Active Overwater 3 Band + Passive Tone Control Pickups - Overwater Jazz Single Coil + Musicman Humbucker Locking Jack Hardware - Overwater Bridge Hipshot Hardware in Black Satin Natural Lacquer Finish

Weird coincidence - After not seeing these anywhere since I last owned one, I wandered past The Music Shop in Inverness yesterday and there's a green SGV for sale. Cool looking thing.

I just mentioned it elsewhere, but probably worth a mention here too: The Dubmatix Reggae shows are worth a listen. https://dubmatix.podbean.com/

People! (Deep breath) We really need to move away from the thought that just because something looks similar to something else that it's going to deliver something similar to what it pertains to be. [Sorry deep EDIT here: I've seen too many posts here and elsewhere where someone buys a Harley Benton Stingray clone or a Chickenbacker and goes, 'Yeah it really growls like a Stingray' or 'It clanks just like the real thing.' These remarks just seem to be some kind of affirmation by the buyer of a bass costing 10% that of the original that it apes, is somehow vindicated. I will continue to cite the blind test at one of the SE Bass Bashes, which kind of proved that a) people don't know what basses sound like at all and b) people couldn't identify their own bass from anyone elses.] Voice of reason here. Again. I'd argue 'til the cows come home that tone is subjective ('all basses sound more or less the same and nobody aside from you gives a rats as to what you sound like'), more to the point tone is about synergy; the interaction of all the component parts, from your fingers/pick, the strings, pickups, wiring loom and cap, lead, stomps, pre-amps, power amps, speakers and your ears. Apart from saying the stock pickup leaves you a bit flat, you're not really saying why. What do you want a replacement to do for you that the original doesn't? I'm genuinely interested (see elsewhere), having swapped out a fair few pickups in my time and finding that a non-badged pickup from an old Strat' copy sounds virtually the same as the Mike Lull hand-wounds on a £5K bass. I'm very much of the view that it's not worth changing anything on a whim; you'll have a perceived opinion of how much better the pickup sounds (which will be a direct correlation to how much you paid).

Thank you to all who contacted me with offers of DBs, what a wonderful community this is. I’m taking up young @BreadBin offer. Me and Brendon have a long history of handing each other instruments 😂 Cheers all! John

New colour way for NAMM.

Doesn't matter what anyone else thinks is heavy, it's how it feels for you that matters. For my fragile back anything over 8.5lbs/3.9kg is too heavy.

95% of bass is about turning up on time, following the chords and doing the basics. Finding the groove is what we live for!

I had some lovely Strawberry Conserve from Lidl on a Croissant this morning.

That's some super attention to detail in the EBMM aping then

I definitely get withdrawal if I don't play it for a day or two because I always want to play it. For me it's also a job but I also absolutely love playing it and apart from a few years where I fell out of love with it in my twenties (I got fed up with being a touring band musician and lost sigjg of why I loved the bass) I've been playing it since I was ten so it's been like a best friend and I find practicing like a sort of release in the same way people like going for a run or a walk!

A heads up, for easily the best strings I've used in decades. Anyone looking to try something new, check them out. My Warwicks, my Thunderbird (main gigging bass) and at least half a dozen of my other basses are fitted with them. Sustain for days, piano like tone and good longevity, even with a sweaty bugger like me, and very reasonably priced. Order well in advance, because they're a small maker in Derbyshire, and it takes a couple of weeks to get them made and shipped. I am in no way affiliated, never met them (although I drive right past them often) and there's nothing in it for me...... just saying. absolutely awesome strings.

This is based on Pedal PCB's knockoff of one of the British Pedal Company's so-called Dumble amp in a box pedals. It's a very basic circuit, but does sound surprisingly good IMO. It's going to a friend who plays mandolin, which I think it will excel for.

Shiggs, where abouts are you in the Midlands as I have both long scale and short scale basses which you are welcome to try.

Strings dictate partially the sound of the bass. My electric upright has different strings than my electric basses. Flatwounds: flat sound, slowish attack, short decay, can be used for years. Groundwounds are close to flats. Roundwounds: sound really depends on the material and age. Nickel is flatter in response than stainless steel. MMiller and MKing may change strings every three hours of playing in studio. Your wallet, or endorsemet can be different. Fretless likes the response of nickel strings. Very thin strings (30-90) are good for slapping, although LEJohnson used flats to slap his MM. Uprights have slap strings, as well as solo, jazz, gut, and arco sets. If you learn a bit about gauges, you can detune your bass with similar tension. No need to adjust the truss rod. Check D'Addario's tension guide. The bass may sound good or bad depending on the strings. I thought that thicker is better in the low end (E and B) but have found out that for my playing thinner gauges sound and feel superior. This required lots of trials and errors. I like light touch, therefore a luthier trimmed my upright. I have fixed my own electrics.

Own several at 12lb and up. I'm much the same as @Reggaebass and @neepheid in preferring a heavier bass, also agree it's not a competition. Countless hours were spent as a laddie trudging to the hut with 50Kg cement bags on my left shoulder. That really messed up some folk but I was one of the lucky ones. Knees are shot these days, back and shoulders still in tip top condition.

I still can't get my head around this.🤔 Does this mean that no bass players can go along and replace the "house band" bassist to play a couple of songs? Does this apply to guitarists, drummers, etc.. as well?

It's a homemade mute switch (hence the full name 'Shut The Fucupcakes' ) with a tuner output, and two status LEDs... an nice steady turquoise one for normal, and a bright flashing orange one for muted.

Guitar Guitar have them up on the site. The analog 112 is £929.

Well, I've done the usual thing that I'm sure many of us have done. Got the board sorted, happy with all the pedals and their order, sounding good and working well, no need to change anything. And then change it. The old FrankenP'd BDI21 has gone, to be replaced by the Wine Cellar. Why? I just fancied a change, is all. If I find I don't get on with it in practice, I'll have another change. The BDI was a good unit, in fact a great one in its modded state, but I was just curious to see how the Wino would stack up. I'm sure at some point this too might find itself replaced by an A7K or something, but for the moment it's fine. The only other differences are ones you can't see - switching and LED changes in the Fucupcakes and the black loop.

Favourite Squirts (Boy Meets Girl) Haircut 100

Cheers, sounds like they'll probably work OK for me. I find sometimes when I go for a less bright string type that the B can be dead sounding even if the other four are doing what I want, so I just wanted to check the Platinums don't suffer too much from that.

Thanks for the input chaps. Having slept on it, I think I'm going to leave it. Here's the bass I was looking at. '76 Jazz at BassBros at a price you just cannot argue with. Someone will get a bargain and love it to bits. Rob

In my late 40s I had some late 70s Precisions that were around 10.5lbs and I was fine with them then, even though my back was iffy even then. I wouldn’t be ok with them now though.

well I for one will be very happy to listen through those a few times before casting my vote, top drawer , absolutely top drawer here we go .. anyone late to the party, just PM me and I'll see if I can accomodate Dive in

Managed to get the IDE working on my Mac. Didn;t have to download any drivers from an obscure Chinese web site. That was never going to happen Copied all the code across to the IDE, compiled it, uploaded it and blow me down with a feather it works. No drivers setup, but I now have working keypad, screen and Mega 2560. That was rather painless. Suspect the CNC shield and stepper motors will be a lot more hassle.