Leaderboard

I don't normally do these type of posts but it's been a good number of years since I owned something with such a wow factor. A few weeks ago I had an incident that left me without a working bass at a gig. Luckily I was able to drive 10 miles down the road from the venue and borrow a bass. It was an unusual one that I hadn't heard of before, built by the Bass Workshop and it was a simple P bass with one volume and no tone control. Now I've been a Jazz guy for quite a few years now, in between the odd Stingray or Sterling. I've always wanted to like p basses but could never find anything that I liked. I now found myself in the unusual position of having to use a bass that I'd never played before, with old strings, no tone control, badly needing a set up and not even close to what I had brought to the gig - my Warmoth/Status Super Jazz with EMG JX pickups and a 3 band EQ. I found that I really enjoyed playing it. I think that I had missed the interaction of digging in and getting a more gnarly sound. It didn't matter how hard I played the jazz, it always sounded good but I couldn't get that digging in clanky growl that I could only get from passive pickups. That set me thinking so I decided to get my Squier 40th P bass out of the box, set it up and took it to the hogmanay gig. Absolutely loved it. I had one of those rare moments where the sound was amazing, not quite 100% what I wanted but close. I decided there and then that I'd like to get myself something special and maybe keep the Squier as a back up bass. I only had one prerequisite - it had to be white. After much searching I found a Japanese imported special edition 60s P in white pearl at Fender Fever. Anyway, it arrived today and I have just taken it out of the box and it's even more spectacular than it looked in the pictures. The rosewood board is so deep and rich in colour. It's probably the nicest rosewood board that I've ever seen that wasn't on an actual vintage 60s Fender

First gig of 2026 up in cold Manchester at Band On The Wall, was ace. Surprising number of people showed up for a two day mini-Americana festival celebrating the 10th anniversary of the bigger Buckle And Boots festival held at Whitebottom Farm near Stockport. Katy Hurt had a 45 min slot on Saturday evening and we played pretty well I think (save a few little fluffs from yours truly). It was LOUD onstage but actually very well balanced. Bass was my ACG TKO, which interested one fan to the extent that he’s contemplating commissioning one purely to hang on the wall…! Rig was house-supplied TC Electronics something with an Ampeg cab, so I just used my Digbeth pre for the FoH and to sculpt the onstage tone. We had a blast, got back to Katy’s house around 1.30am and now I should probably get out of bed 😆

Those are super cool basses. You know when you can tell something plays well just by looking at it! Folllowing on with the basses on the carpet theme here’s my herd - I tried to take a picture like yours from above but I couldn’t get high enough! I’ve got the Musicmaster (fretted) pretty bang on, setup wise, now. Labella flats (.050 - .110) and some truss rod fun and it’s playing really nicely.

I don't think Fender have produced quite enough minimally different variations of the Precision and Jazz basses yet, so I think they need to get on that

I started up an 80s band some time ago. We are still "forming" finding the right songs and so forth but it's feeling good. So I wanted an 80s bass and having sold off three basses at the end of last year I was feeling good and came across an Ibanez Musician from 1980, fully original. Struck a deal and it was delivered yesterday by the owner and used last night at band practice. First impressions: chunkier neck than I'm used to but not unmanageable. Weight is ok and a decent strap. Lots of knobs! These are a bit excessive I think: vol vol tone, three way pup selector, active/ passive switch, bass, mid, treble... So for ease of use it's both pups on full then using the active to find the sound. I played through an Ampeg head and Trace cab with the EQ relatively flat. This bass cuts through the mix! Gorgeous consistency all over the neck in terms of tone and volume, lovely for high fills, really nice sound for finger pops that I can't seem to get with other basses. So far I'm chuffed. Terrible photo, but I've been too busy playing it to just admire it.

Not last night, actually sunday. We had a gig at a pub in a local beauty spot (which considering I live in Yeovil, there aren't too many!), it was the day at the end of all the holidays. It was going to be a pain to get in. Turned up just after the singer so followed them in round a corner and parked by the building, as well as we could. Had to carry everything through a door that people were insisting of standing in the way of, but it was their party so couldn't be too annoyed at them. There was a tiny width of stage, and there were already a load of guitars there as apparently there was going to be a couple of people playing at our half time. We had to move the stuff as there wasn't enough room in general! Anyway, we started and people were dancing from the start and they moved all the tables out of the room which was good. Did the first hour or so ending with whole lotta love that we haven't done for a while. Then we had a break and a lot of food from the party, while the public event of what appeared to be people singing to a backing track with a guitar went on for half an hour. Not sure why there were two guitars and a bass though! Anyway we went back on and it went well, very interactive crowd, although towards the end of the night they started tailing off as the party had been going since much earlier, and the snow was making people think they should get going. Was much easier loading again though due to the lack of people and tables, but there was a fair bit of snow. This beauty spot is the top of the hill, I was going to go the normal way down the hill, but the drummer said I should go the other way, through the villages, which isn't steep because of the weather, I didn't think it was really necessary, but driving out of the car park after the singer, on a very gentle slope the car antilock hammered. The singer was going the other way so I followed, it was a very slow journey home considering how short it is, but got there! Heres my corner, nice and cosy. This was actually 8pm and completely dark but the camera decided to just lighten it up. Thats the road. Just before load in Just before we started.

First gig of the year and back in Stramash,Edinburgh. 3rd time for our band SHOUT! Not as busy as before but still a decent turnout! Mild amusement in the dressing room as our trombone/trumpet man told us how he got told off and nearly ejected from a city centre pub for using a vape! He then proceeded to stand just offstage and do the very same thing! Cue fire alarm and knock on door from security! Lucky for us he was ok about it! Been in similar situations and a couple of fire engines have pulled up outside! All good though! Black Is Black SHOUT! Live Stramash,Edinburgh.mp4

So many of you will have seen my thread on here entitled, "Do I reeeally need a Precision..?" Well, I ordered this on December 22nd and finally went down to The Bass Gallery in Camden today to get it. Thankfully, with a lot of people still on Christmas holidays, London was relatively quiet and traffic free. I plumped for the new American Professional Classic as it was sonically quite similar to my previous American Professional I, but considerably cheaper than the American Professional II, which doesn't sound anywhere near as good. From the videos I studied, the new Classic with its Pure Vintage series derived 'Coastline' 60s pickups has a very clear upper register and a subtly warm bottom end. I also really like the 'modern C' neck profile, which is very slim [fingers to thumb] for a Precision and the usual modern 9.5" radius/1.625" nut, which is almost like a '63 neck, minus a little thickness. So after driving all day (went to Bridgewater in Somerset too!), I've only had a little play, and first order of business as always is to get those awful stock Fender strings off and put some nice fresh 40-95 Elixirs on instead. Much better. After a brief setup, it's a very nice sounding bass. Very easy to play and sounds really smooth and full at the bottom end. Just what I was looking for - a mix of modern and classic. Being as this new series is supposedly the replacement to the long serving American Performer basses (and all the previous incarnations, such as American Special, Highway One, etc), the quality has been upped by a huge amount, bringing these much closer to the Am Pro II. This particular bass is flawless and everything lines up perfectly. The bridge is the same as the ones on the Vintage/Original/Vintage II basses, (which I've never had any issues with on my American Original Jazz in seven years), and the Gotoh Lollipop Tuners & high quality metal Domed Control Knobs are lovely to use too. More to come when I give it a good playing tomorrow...

This just arrived! I’m letting it warm up before I do a bit of a setup and clean. I couldn’t resist plugging it in - it’s going to be great fun. The circuit is original and therefore very dark - about like a P bass with the tone at 20%, when the tone on the Musicmaster is at max! Due to this there’s very little rf noise. It’s getting some heavy flats this afternoon!

Well after about 6 years amp-less just using a powered speaker and Helix Stomp/couple other DI pedals, i recently moved house, bigger detached no neighbours to worry about so decided to treat myself. After much deliberation decided to go for the Laney as it ticked all the boxes for features I wanted. It came down to The Ashdown studio stack or this. very very impressed, the Amp is not dead the King returns, straight out of the Box all set at 12 sounds amazing on both channels couple tweaks and got the sound i want. I was worried 500w would be too loud but getting great sounds at lower volumes with plenty to crank if i ever need it. Real amps are just so responsive (or at least this is) I had to pinch myself my playing (even after 3 weeks off on holidays) was just so Dynamic. Sounds and plays just like you think an amp should. Real amps vs Modellers could be a separate threat.

Christ, I can't remember if I've posted these or not, apologies if I have, fretless and fretted @Jabba_the_gut builds. The ultimate shorties, even though I've just gone back to long scale thanks to obtaining a Fender Precision Thinline PBAC. The fretted (spalted) bass might be up for sale in the near future.

Did a bass swap before the New Year and picked up this Aria SB 1000B re-issue. Always wanted one and was a little scared about picking up one of the older ones reading so much about them having pick up problems. This one is a joy to play, love the ebony board and the low pass filtery type pre-amp. having the 2 octave neck is also nice. Weights in a fairly comfortable 4.4kg. Hopefully I can get to use it in anger... Got practice next week, think I'll take it along. Anyone else out there got one of these?

Definitely 2 of them... Since selling my 1994 Blue TRB6 as a poor mature jazz student to someone on this site in the mid-2000s (that subsequently sold it on a few times and unable to trace), I still massively regret it to this day. I bought it from Chappells in Milton Keynes as a 16 year old after working and saving for a long time. Every so often I look for it, but I've accepted it's likely locked away in it's case somewhere but hope it's being enjoyed by a young bass player somewhere. However after this one came up at Bass Bros I knew I had to try it. I've had many basses over the years but none have ever felt so natural to play. Maybe 10 years of formative learning on an instrument is ingrained in me. So this one was same year albeit different colour. Still, in immaculate condition. Think it was Cairobill's? Although it seems to be like buses...a Black 96 TRB6 also came available. Tbh I wish I could keep both but reality is after losing job last year (FU tech industry) I recently also had to shift my KS Burl Burner which in any other circumstance I'd still have. But man, I got 3 kids to feed... So going to play both for a bit and decide which one stays and which one goes... To this day I'm convinced there is no better value for money and sounding 6 string that these OG Japanese Yamaha's.

Ive got just the right suit to match if you wanted to borrow it 😁

Today’s experiment with zero practical use but a ton of fun at home: I’ve wired up the OC5 so the Direct Output goes to the Dirtfixer Input and the Output goes to the Longsword > Model FeT and back into the Dirtfixer return. This lets me blend in some +1 octave with a tone of distortion with my normal bass tone. Sounds filthy!!! Disabling the Dirtfixer also bypasses the OC5. As fun as it is I think I’d rather have my normal drive tone.

Think it’s tail end of Feb I’ll be there with Walshy. we do it every year, like a bass version of brokeback mountain

I had to learn this a few years back, loved it. It was a challenging number for the band, I can still clearly remember how pleased we felt when we first played it. I can also clearly remember how unimpressed the audience were and how much happier they were when we moved on to Mustang Sally, Alright Now and Love Shack 🙄

Decided to bypass test's and simply mask the cabinet up in the kitchen. and paint it. As the CFO is out and it is still below freezing, I masked the cabinet up before painting. In hindsight this was a mistake, I grossly over estimated how thick the paint covering is. Whilst it's like tar in the tin, it spreads thinly and evenly. A simple mask rather than masking sacrificial parts would have been far quicker but you live and learn. Managed to get two smooth coats on the cab in the celler. The textured coat is last and I may get that on tonight. The red corners are sacrificial so don't care about them. The real ones will be attached using no nails as I didn't want screws showing. It's still wet in the photo Rob

Latest incarnations of my boards. Gigging requirements keep changing, so we have plenty of dirt options on one for the 90’s grunge and alt rock set, and more of a filter focus on the other for the 80’s pop covers.

As usual Sire just slipped out the new basses ahead of NAMM! For 2026 we highlight * P7/V7/V7 vintage. "New Gen" takes over Gen 2 in what seems satin finish? I can't see much gloss there. New neck profile, colours and electronics. Consistency in weight, chambered bodies * Headless/headed top rsnge - F10 DX and X10 DX. How did Fodera not sure I do not know, but I love it. I'm assuming these will come at £1200 ISH £1500+ (thanks @MichaelDean)? Hard case and wooden covers and wooden ramp as accessory. * Other colour updates and edits, to note the Dingwall Nolly swirly finishes... https://www.sire-usa.com/pages/2026-marcus-miller-new-models What do you think? Ander.

Have you tried throwing it in the river? Worked for my bagpipes.

Finally got the top coat on and the other bits attached to the speaker. It's basically finished. As it's really a deep black, there's not a lot of detail that can be seen on camera. The Gnome goes on the top or at the back You can see the rails here for front and back with the grab handles Here's the grill attached It definitely has a chunky Lego or kids toy vibe to it That's one down, I need to mull on the lessons learnt and then do Cabinet #2. Rob

Well, it turned up just before lunch and I'm very impressed! It's very green. Almost purest green. A slight tweak of the truss rod and it's good to go. I do find the jazz bass shape very comfy. Maybe because my first bass was a jazz. It's reasonably weighty at 4.44kg (9lb 8oz). Neck is a good shape. There's something on there that's rubbing off as I play which is a bit weird, but at least it's coming off. The pickups don't sound bad at all. Did I mention it's very green? For £63, I'm very pleased!

Hadn’t played a BB for years… BassBros is extremely bad for the wallet by the way😮 Now I have taken the pickup ramp off, given it a good polish, and had my tech stone the frets it plays like a dream. I was looking at a rather sexy blue AVRI ii Precision at the same time but the BB very easily won for both tone and playability. Sorry for spoiling the picture of the bass with my ugly mug 😂😂

Of course not but I’m running out of room to put food and clothing 🫠

Working in music retail gave me a different perspective. We sold basses from the 3 brands you mentioned, and would pretty regularly re order popular colour combos, for example. It's not like we sold loads of US Stingrays, but I know for sure there would have been several examples of the same spec/colour in the same town, so when you expand that globally it's not insignificant! I do think more people hold onto quality instruments than perhaps we assume; being members of this GAS - inducing den of disrepute (Bass chat) I think warps the perspective a little 😂

Another update from me… Some tweaks to the setup of pre-amp, compression and drive. Signal chain Tuner>Comp>Pre… I then I have a signal split Pre-amp DI out>CabM+>FOH/IEM and Pre-amp 1/4”out>Genz4OTF>LDP>Box ofWar>Thumpinator>Amp Box Of War - this is a custom shop version with the mid switch which fills out the scoop / fattens up the low mids from the 0700 to 1100 position but isn’t much use to me personally dialling it above noon. I keep the mid-switch engaged and am enjoying the thick muff tones which grew up listening to in the 90’s grunge stuff. My guitarist doesn’t really use much dirt live (he’s a cowboy chords kinda player) so there’s scope for the bass to do the more driven sounds in songs like Zombie and 7 Nation Army. LDP- boost and drive. The drive is a pretty solid sounding unit with bass specific touches and does the low gain to a moderate gain sounds we can appreciate on the gig. I like it set to low ish gain for character. The DEEP switches are engaged on both sides and they add a pleasant bump without getting muddy (I’m guessing around 100hz). The Boost side comes after the drive and is really good on its own to put a touch of something on the basic overall bass sound. I have the Tone knob rolled back for taking some of the zing out of my jazz bass in tracks like Proud Mary. Winding it up over noon can liven pick playing and I use it a lot finding it can be a really satisfying always on and versatile tone enhancer I.e turning the tone down completely for a warm pillowy sound which isn’t as muffled as turning g the bass tone control fully off. I dig it and it’s a pretty cool looking black and gold unit which I prefer to the older more industrial look Rodenberg used previously. API TranzFormer Cmp Wonderful sounding unit from studio giants API. It has the API output transformer and is a VCA style comp which can often translate to a faster punchier style of compression. The unit definitely has a colour to it from the transformer and that was part of the appeal. I have another VCA style comp which is great maybe a bit more transparent but the API ‘colour’ is real nice! In front of the tube pre amp it is adding its own thing and lifts the whole pedalboard. There’s some preset switches for attack and release so if these aren’t enough control this may not be the unit for you but there’s no denying the pedal adds something by being switched on and imparting it’s own vibe. It’s actually really straightforward and looking forward to gigging with it tonight. The blend is nice as you can push things a little more and hear that comp working but dial back in the clean to keep things juicy. I'm usually a one in, one out type of person but glad I nabbed these when I did and like I say looking forward to this board over the coming months for the live shows.

All the credit should go to all the people who did this before me. I didn't do anything clever but just followed other people and make my own mistakes. There's an awful lot of help here, freely given, for how to make it and make it work well. You don't need lots and lots of specialist tools, it can help, but a lot of people have found cheap and easy ways to do it. (That's a compliment BTW). I will be doing a second cab, and it will be made slightly differently as I have learnt what works and what doesn't. I may list all my mistakes so you can learn from them, but that might require a lot longer thread. For anybody who is thinking of building one, do it. Enormous satisfaction at the end which is nice, but you also get a good insight into what's needed. If I can do it anybody can. Rob

Got hold of some black M3x30mm screws, countersunk for added stealth... Added a couple of M3 nuts to help keep it in place. Then fitted it to the bass... Amazingly, it fit first time! There's not a lot of room to wind the pickup down further, a mm or two maybe, but it's at a good place and I'm just happy I didn't have to howk out some of the pickup route for the humbucker mounting lugs. Gave it a quick test, and after I swapped two wires (because it oddly came with the series join out of phase?), it's working as I expect. Sounds pretty good in cans. Will record some clips over the weekend.

Not any more! The postage from the USA for the new badge was brutal, but this rig is all about the look of it, so it had to be done! In other news, our emigration plans have moved up a gear. I don't have time to fix the foot switch and I'll not really need it - so it's available here for postage:

A quick audio clip, I realised after that the battery in my bass was pretty low and breaking up a little.

Oh, this is wonderful ! 👍 Youtube wins again. Drummer plays a tree, and special guitar solo is at 3.40 Enjoy.

I suspect that the broad glamourisation of drugs in music is down to journalists making things more fabulous than they are. "Ooh look at then being naughty, they are getting away with it and are epically cool. I wish that was me". Ask anyone who has experience of heroin (other drugs are available) addiction either personally or within their family, and I can guarantee they will not be saying "yeah, but the songs made it all worth it". Have some people produced interesting stuff while using drugs? Yes. Would they produce interesting stuff anyway? More than likely, this was just a different flavour of whatever would be. We only read about the tiny percentage of people who have "done the thing" and " produce the thing". The rest of the people who have "done the thing" and produced "not the thing" are not eulogised by those who write about it - the tastemakers/gatekeepers.

I have it on good authority from an industry insider that over the next 12 months fender plan to release another jazz, precision, strat and Tele You heard it here first

Damn! I thought I'd finally found one, and you've taken even that from me!

My sentiments exactly! I don't know what the Fender marketing guys have got for brains. They don't seem to understand that they are trading in a global market with a world-wide shop window. Any attempt to segment the market in a way that appears to disadvantage certain countries (in this case the UK, EU and USA!!) will pi$$ many customers off to the point where brand loyalty is eroded - or even turns into 'brand hostility' over time. And that's really bad news for Fender given that their competitors are routinely matching or beating them in terms of quality and value for money nowadays.

Your not naively assuming a 1:1 bass:bassist ratio? 🤣🤣