Leaderboard

Hi everyone, this is Mark Morgan-Richards of Classic and Cool Guitars, and Limelight. First of all, thank you to everyone, this is a great community effort. I contacted the auction house first thing this morning and they withdrew the bass from sale. I now have to try to get it back...🤞 I have learnt a few things from this whole episode: 1) I will NEVER use ParcelForce or Interparcel again. 2) I will not be adding any logos to the headstock other than Limelight (or blank) from now on 3) I really appreciate all the help I got from this post (Thanks Paddy)

Hi everyone, I think I’ve come across your bass in a live auction with Wellers Auctions in Guildford. I check their listings from time to time for instruments, and this one caught my eye due to the very limited information provided. A quick Google reverse image search led me to this forum. The auction ends tomorrow, so it may be worth contacting them ASAP. I really hope you’re able to recover the bass. Chris

I've never known pubs to be so busy in January - another one rammed tonight. They were not very dancy, well there wasn't really the space, so it was a bit of a proggy night instead. We even had a little blast of Genesis - I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe), and I found my lawnmower patch in time 😂 The tools of the trade - Sub5 Stingish bass, GT-6B, Rumble v3 500. Black DMs. Some lovely compliments too. It's always nice when people acknowledge the bass. We have a couple of weekends off now.

After all the worry, it was great! Really cool venue, The Acoustic Lounge in Poynton. All the good things you want from a venue - easy to find, car park right next to load in doors, loads of plug sockets, great staff, first drink free and they have bands on every weekend so people know to come for live music. By no means full but with a decent crowd for a Sunday night and even some dancers. A very civilised 7pm start and 9.30pm finish meant I was in bed for just after 11 - bonus on a school night. Easily the best we've played - this was only our 4th full gig as a band and 2nd as a 5 piece with sax. Rig was Fender Jazz 5 Kazuki Arai --> (new) Xvive P58 wireless --> HX Stomp --> PA. Footwear was Vans classics. Lots of positive feedback from punters and venue, including a guy from another band who recorded pretty much the whole gig and sent us the 4k files. Brilliant stuff! Don't know if Jon from Loop & Swing is on here, but thanks a million if you are! Here are some of his clips: And I'm even going to risk submitting a bit of me attempting some slap:

Last night we played at the Musketeer in Leigh, Lancashire. It's always been one of those gigs where the crowd turns up 5 minutes before the band starts. We had been talking to them about taking our long-established jam night there, but we couldn't get timings that suited us all. We did a well-received first spot and a lengthy second spot. We certainly blew off the cobwebs in the place. It was great that the 'new' line-up of the band was so readily accepted at one of our favourite venues. It was a bit of a special gig for us, as our guitarist's wife gives birth next Fri (planned birth) and so we are taking the band off the road during February.

Errr..... interesting !

Last night turned out to be a good one, despite having a particularly heavy cold that seems to be doing the rounds. I still have some in-date covid tests and it's apparently not, so on with the show. The gig was guest-headliner at a Metal 2 The Masses competition heat (playing while the votes are being counted and the judges are deliberating), so I swapped my usual 10-6 shift at work for the 7-3, got to the venue for 4 as instructed, sound-checked at about 6, nipped to Tesco for a picnic that I couldn't taste, and then just loitered in the dressing room until showtime at 9:45. I would have liked to see the competition bands but I was best off sat on a sofa with my menthol sweets and a bog-roll. Stage time came around fast enough, and although the drummer had been at the JD a little more than usual, he only made a couple of mistakes and I managed not to have any fits of coughing, sneezing or otherwise malfunctioning. There were plenty watching and all the inter-song noises were positive and enthusiastic, but the highlight for me was the looks on the faces of a pair of lasses down at the front. I may be wrong, but I got the feeling that they'd perhaps spent the night dutifully supporting their boy/friends in one of the more shouty-thrashy bands, so being faced with two corseted sopranos in an operatic-symphonic outfit at the same gig seemed to catch them off-guard; they looked somewhere between emotional and mesmerised ...in a good way. Packed up and tried to help as much as possible with loading out, but I was at the 'if I start coughing I'm not sure I'll be able to stop before I run out of air and keel over' stage, so I made my apologies and my exit. Had a gloriously rough night and now need to spend the next three days helping my lass to move house. Epic. Gear was my RB Streamer LX 5 -(G30)-> [XS-1 -> BC-1X -> VT Bass v2 -> BDDI v2] -> TC BAM200 -> Blackstar house cab, and it really sounded quite good from where I was stood so hopefully that translated to FoH. Noticed that I was getting some very brief drop-outs on the G30, which is very unusual for it in my experience, but I eventually spotted that it was happening every time one of the singers operated the switch on her radio mic. Will have to see whether it was a one-off or maybe a different channel will be less susceptible to issues. Took the Hardly Benton along as backup, and the one photo I was bothered to take all evening is of it...

Off to Horbury WMC for a 40th party attended by around 150 people apparently, although you wouldn't know it from the lack of audience involvement. Hey ho. The evening started auspiciously as I managed to find a parking spot literally three feet from the door! After I'd recovered from the shock we set up pretty quickly, said hello to the birthday girl and her husband, soundchecked, then sat around doing nothing for an hour and a half. Went with the by now tried and tested Siredowsky - ABM - Two10S combination, which sounded pretty good on a larger stage. At halftime I was approached by a local guitar tech who preferred his business card, so I'll have to look into that as I don't have a go to one in these parts yet. Managed to grab a bowl of curry, made by our guitarist's ex apparently, before heading back on stage. We all played really well, and our newer songs are sounding really good, apart from our drummist truncating Two Tribes again! We had a couple of half-hearted dancers for a couple of songs but that was about it, but star of the night was the 9(ish)-year-old girl who was dancing and cartwheeling on the dancefloor for the entire second set, which have me a bit of a boost. Before we started our singist approached us all and asked if we'd fancy giving London Calling a bash. Hell yes, I would!

After our usual few weeks off in January, we were back at it at a fairly local WMC, Maltby Catholic Club. Despite being local we’d not played this venue before. The gig was well publicised resulting in a packed house. Both spots were well attended by dancers and a promise of a further gig, love it when a plan comes together. Talking with the proprietor, turns out the place wasn’t doing too well when the took it over last year but since investing in better live music acts the place is now thriving which was great to hear. EBMM shorty stingray, Boss pedals, Markbass little Marcus 500, 2 x Markbass NY121. Silver Converse Chuckie Ts.

Should turn the light out but need to chill for a bit with a JD. Just got back from Llandovery, about 1hr 45 minute drive, mercifully the vocalist has a new van and felt guilty as I've been driving him for months. Our gig got switched to another pub because of a wake. Limited space but we were a man down and managed to fit. Just. Staff were great. 45 minute first set went ok. Locals friendly but not very engaged at first. Second set people warmed up, especially after some Manic Street Preachers. Lots of positive reactions, handshaking etc. and I even got bought a beer (nice bring the one who isn't driving). Yes we had a few minor fumbles, but we haven't played without our rhythm guitarist for a long time and we did some long forgotten and ungigged songs. Had to compromise on tone as electrical noise meant I had to keep both pups on full (Flea Jazz). Affected guitarist too when he used his strat instead of LP. I got told to turn up! We have a rehearsal on Monday to polish up with our full lineup. A big gig on Sunday, our first in the big room at the Earl Haig (my favourite place to play - see previous post) proper stage & lights 🙂

I once took a banjo to a local luthier shortly before he died, and he snapped it in half and burnt the pieces. God, I miss him.

Imo single cut basses sound more stern, less frivolous than double cut basses. As if they heard their retirement age has been pushed back. On one hand they exude an atmosphere of business acumen and accountability, on the other they give the impression of a lesser lust for life, of not letting go at parties. Single cut basses are a lot like a greengrocer's hammer: beware when one is applied in earnest.

Good gig, weird crowd. First time out for the Godin Dorchester, an absolute beast of a bass, massive pickups, massive output, I really had to turn it down. A fun night and a long two hour set, so we were cooked by the end of it.

First gig at the Merriott Social Venue near Yeovil last night. We were pretty rusty not having gigged since before Xmas and having been forced to cancel our last 3 weekly rehearsals due to illness and floods. Singer Kat still hadn't fully recovered from whatever bug had colonised her throat but we all agreed to just turn up and give it our best shot - including several ungigged new numbers. Thankfully Kat smashed it, the crowd loved us, the venue booked us for another gig in May plus their New Year's Eve bash - and a couple booked us for their wedding! One of the new numbers was No One Knows by Queens Of The Stone Age and our percussion was enhanced by the sound of my knees knocking together as the fear of what I was about to attempt took a hold of me. Fcuk the gig money! Nailing that song was what made my night 🙂

We played The Shed in Charlbury tonight; it's a small venue but popular with the jazz crowd. This was a fundraising gig to cover some of the costs of the recent refurbishment there (nice to have working electricity which is up to safety standards...). It was a good turnout considering we'd never played there before and the locals wouldn't have known what they were going to get. Luckily, they seemed to have liked it. Edit: Video available.

Long horrible journey to Abertillery, a mining town where the average road gradient is about 45º. The local Blues club. They were a bit disappointed with an attendance of 80 people at £5 a head, which filled the place and we thought was excellent on such a grim nightn although the venue looked welcoming on a dark night. Bluesfire so LOTS of pa, lights etc. Played from 8:30 to 11+ with a raffle break. Nice little stage and great sound as good ceiling, carpet and plenty of bodies to control the sound. My rig has been sounding glorious since I just boosted a mids a bit. Could barely hear my voice in the monitor though. First time they've only used one sub and to my ears the low end sounded much better. We got a rapturous reception and were more free and improvisational than usual which was mostly fun and occasionally hairy. By the end I felt like I'd been beaten up, so the long slow load out and hour's drive in more rain were tedious. In bed at 1:45. Another gig tonight with Bendricks Rock nearly two hours away. Fortunately singer will drive. I see much ibuprofen in my future. I hope my body copes with this two month glut of gigs.

Some video emerged from last weekend's gig. Just in case you thought I just set up my rig in random places and photograph it every other weekend 20260124 Harbour Lights - Zombie.mp4

small but mighty!

Redux. There's a load of photos from Jersey. Stuart We were crawling over the soundcheck: St Helier airport 7.00am (note t-shirt that Stuart gave me). I'd just come back from Spain, hence my complexion reflecting mu Portuguese heritage. And glasses!: I had nothing to sign, so I bought a book and they signed that!

Yesterday morning I picked up a few items that had fallen out of the recycling bag. A bean can lid made a big slice along my ring fingernail. Spent all day with it plastered up and it appeared to have sealed, but I touched it up with superglue just in case... Last night's Fortunate Sons gig was for the Rusty Sprocket MCC and locals at a pub in Rumney. Usually the band play their festival every year but this year the dates didn't work, a shame as it's an event I'd love to play. Setting up this happened... yes leaking either side of the glue patch. It stopped bleeding but a rummage in my hits box later and it opened right up, about 4mm deep and 15mm long. Luckily th drummer has special 'wrap' elastoplasts with long tails. I've still got it on and will leave it for a couple of days. Gig itself was good although I made a few fluffs, only partly due to my padded ginger ... like remembering to tune back up from D but not switching myself off standby. Got an immense sound from my Epiphone Embassy with a nice overdrive when digging in. Great reception and possibility of a slot at a big bike festival in the summer.

So this all started in the heat of last Summer when I picked up a prototype Nitro Jazz bass in Daphne Blue by @Silky999 while I was on my way to a gig in Torquay. Quite soon after, I added some Fender Pure Vintage 66 pickups and an uprated tone pot capacitor. This bass, having grown beyond the sum of it's parts, basically showed that Silky999 was definitely onto something... Again, soon afterwards, I signed up for one of @Kiwi's first batch of Jazz bass graphite necks which he was soon to be putting into production in China. The initial intention was to put the graphite neck onto Silky's Nitro Jazz prototype, but it had already become a very good bass as it was. A few weeks later, I noticed that Silky had started work on his own common shape bodies, and he was in the middle of a Walnut Jazz Bass build. Swiftly adding 1 + 1 together, I came up with the concept for this bass - a sort of homage to my no.1 bass, a 2007 Walnut Status S2-Classic that I've owned for 19 years - so we'd build a sort of Vintage-Modern Jazz with Fender Pure Vintage pickups from the American Vintage II series basses, as well as black Gotoh '66 Lollipop Tuners and other nice Gotoh hardware, but with one of the first Kiwi-produced "Aurok" graphite necks for a modern twist to both the look and the sound. The neck arrived on these shores about two weeks ago, delivered directly to Silky and the build has been completed in two weeks. He's definitely put a HUGE amount of work into this bass during that time, overcoming several teething issues, not to mention learning to drill the inserts into graphite for the first time, but we've got there. It's not perfect, but gawd, does it sound fantastic?! I was originally going to get a John East J-Tone preamp plate for it, but it honestly doesn't need it. The 500k pots and more than ample copper shielding have made this a very quiet, yet shouty and clear instrument! Sound-wise, it's actually turned out better than I'd hoped, with a deep, growly tone & a lovely clear top end, with that unmistakable graphite 'shimmer' underpinning the sound. My errors? Well, the first was in the ordering of the lovely Gotoh Lollipop Tuners from Thomann - they're sold as either "4R" or "4L" sets - which I logically deduced would be RH and LH orientation. Er, nope. They're actually labelled for the direction in which they physically turn. Duh. Anyway, I've now accidentally got another bass with "vintage reverse tuners". Yep, we ended up putting them on backwards. I blame the Japanese, personally. Secondly, I ordered a really nice black Gotoh bridge which is seemingly set up for 19mm spacing, as opposed to the usual Fender-style 20mm, so the strings slightly miss the pole pieces, but it still plays and sounds amazing. It can be easily fixed later with a different bridge with adjustable string spacing. I also really liked the wheeled string tree on my GB Spitfire, so added one of those to the tally of parts, as well as a cheeky black "F" logo neck plate - after all, Fender did design the Jazz Bass, so they should deserve a little credit. So it just remains for me to thank both @Silky999 & @Kiwi again for all their hard work. The bass sounds literally amazing - even better than the Status T-Bass I recently played at Andy Baxter's showroom. No, I'm not kidding. Sound Clips to follow...

Back to pub land last night for Glam Viva after a run of WMCs. A great lively pub in Brimington just outside Chesterfield, The Butchers Arms, a great live music venue. I was a bit under the weather as I’m on a short course of nasty antibiotics but, bucket at the ready we soldier on. Fortunately the bucket wasn’t needed and the good hormones lifted me. Got a compliment on my playing from a drummer in another band…..that’s the second time in ten years, I’ll try not to let it go to my head 😂 Sandberg Lionel into my usual Markbass rig and red/white/blue sequinned Converse Chucky Ts.

Just done a lovely little solo gig at Bar Dos Hermanos in Leicester. Quite a quiet night possibly due to the ghastly weather but it meant I could experiment with more subtle stuff and new tunes rather than competing against a really noisy crowded bar. A girl from the audience asked if I knew Jolene and could she sing it (she was really good too so that worked really nicely). Chucked in a bunch of new stuff too which went down well. And only got slightly soaked loading out. Happy with that. Gear: the usual Simon and Patrick SP6 guitar and soundhole pickup, Allen and Health desk and Mackie SRM350 speakers. Footwear by Clarkes.

Short freebie gig playing an intermission set with the 7 piece jazz band last night that turned into an important learning experience for me. One of our members who is a teacher had organized a day long workshop for several school choral groups and due to a cancellation asked if we could fill a slot in the evening program and it went well and we sounded very good. I planned to use my Yamaha SLB 200 and go straight into the Traynor SB 112 combo that I have used many times either by itself or as a monitor with a line out to a PA. When I had it set in place and turned it on nothing happened, it usually takes 2-3 seconds to come on and has never failed before so I checked all the cords and used different wall outlets and still no action. Luckily the school had a bass amp I could use and it all went fine. Now for what I learned. If your amp has been sitting in a car in a parking lot for seven or eight hours with the temperature around -15C it will take while to warm up and come to life. I had taken it straight in and it was still cold but after I changed to the other amp I tried it one more time and stood like an idiot wondering why I bothered and then after about 10 seconds lights came on and all was well, it just needed extra time for the current to warm up the components, who would have guessed? Edit: Yes, I tried it this morning after it had been in my house overnight and all is well, lesson learned.

It’s tiny! Demo coming very soon!!!

Starting a new build for a fellow Basschat member, because this one deserves documenting properly — if only as a cautionary tale. The brief: a paulownia body, finished properly in nitrocellulose, going Dakota Red, paired with a MIM Fender neck. The timing: while fighting a genuinely world-ending case of manflu. The wood: paulownia, which has zero sympathy and even less respect for human suffering. As usual, this will be a warts-and-all build thread — no carefully curated highlights, just the reality of what’s involved in getting a nitro finish right on a wood that actively resists it. This is very much not a “quick colour and clear” job. Paulownia has a habit of revealing grain, pores and dents you were sure you’d already dealt with — especially once primer goes on and you’re already feeling sorry for yourself. The plan (and yes, this is the long way round): Multiple coats of nitro primer Careful flattening Shellac to lock everything down before colour Grain filler, because the grain will come back if given even half a chance More sanding than feels medically advisable Eventually… Dakota Red At the moment it’s firmly in the “primer shows everything you missed” stage — which is nitro’s favourite moment to kick you while you’re down. The aim here isn’t speed; it’s getting a finish that won’t sink, print through, or look like it’s been applied with a teaspoon. I’ve also added a cut out to the neck pocket as the neck is a heel adjustment truss rod. My cunning plan is that it will be covered by the pickguard in normal use but means that the neck can be adjusted in situ by just taking the pickguard off and not having to de-string, remove the neck, adjust, attach neck, re-string, tune and repeat until it’s right. Progress may be slower than usual, fuelled mainly by tea, ibuprofen and stubbornness — but it will be done properly. I’ll keep this thread updated as it goes along, warts, mistakes, fixes and all, including the usual sanding, swearing, re-priming, and pretending this was all part of the plan from the start. Dakota Red to follow… once both the finish and the builder are fully cured.

Like most basses, a lot more than I sold mine for….

There's not one post here that was against a happy ending of the bass being reunited with the owner. I went back and reread them all. In fact, there's no negativity toward Mark or the buyer. What there was, was some healthy non-conflict comment and information about some of the legal aspects and what could happen in similar circumstances, and a few well-meant warnings about certain couriers and practices. I think it's been a useful learning experience and it reflects well on the community that we can have these discussions.

First one back for the new year as vox was away in January and we were a guitarist down, so there was a bit more space to fill but generally went ok. Good crowd singing and dancing so that was good. We had a rehearsal last Monday to clear the cobwebs and check adjustments for songs minus a guitar. I decided to run: bass->Anagram->Baby Sumo->Barefaced BB2 and with the Anagram di’d to the PA but got the usual amp and spare out anyway as I had a previous issue with the Baby Sumo (not repeated since) so wanted to be prepared. No problems last night and it sounded great in the wild and through my IEM’s. Massive cramping in my fretting hand in the last couple of numbers which was a trial and I ache this morning. Now I’m away for some r&r after a crazy couple of months at work, and I get back just before the next gig so will be going into that with no rehearsal and a couple of weeks not playing

This one:

And here's some pictures. The two cabs stack very nicely on top of each other. However they are only loosely connected through the rubber feet on the bottom and the holes in the corners. You're not going to knock them over without a push, but a drunken punter would easily push them down. The bottom one looks nicer than the top one as it's all black (IMO). I may retrofit the black corners onto the top one. The top one happens to have a Mod Dwarf on it and without that, would be the perfect place to place a pint. Still got to do a grill for the bottom one. Side angle and the rear. The handles are great., Easy to carry the whole cab with just one of them. And from the rear I'm quite pleased with how they have turned out. Even better when I can change the top Speakon panel and remove the gaskets. Work has got in the way all day today. Rob

I have taken the brave decision to launch a new print and digital bass magazine for the UK market. I've been publishing magazines in my day job for 27 years and think it's terrible that we don't have a dedicated magazine anymore. We launch the mag officially at the Birmingham Bass & Guitar Show next month where we will have a small stand and giving away a sample issue (while stocks last) - we will then publish quarterly moving forward. Editor is Joel McIver who ran Bass Guitar magazine and then Bass Player so no cheap AI generated content here! Website is here You can subscribe via the website - our socials launch on Monday. If you are at the show next month come and say hello - be nice to put faces to names. The cover of our sample issue is here for your thoughts and comments.

My last gig was NYE. We don't have a gig until February 19. It will be my first gig at age 72. This stretch of no gigs is driving me crazy. Daryl

Final update – walnut body / graphite neck Jazz bass Thought I’d close this thread off as the bass is now finished and heading home to @HeadlessBassist Solid walnut body, finished simply to let the wood speak for itself, paired with a full graphite neck for stability and consistency. Classic Jazz layout, clean hardware fit, and set up to play properly straight out of the case. This one’s been a good reminder that while graphite necks are brilliant, they come with their own rules. No compression, no forgiveness, and no tolerance for “that’ll probably be fine”. Everything from drilling to mounting hardware needs thinking through properly. Do that, and the reward is a neck that just doesn’t move and quietly gets on with the job. There were a few moments along the way where it tried to turn into a learning experience, but it all came back together in the end. Structurally solid, cosmetically clean, and exactly what the customer was after. The tuners are on upside down but @HeadlessBassist decided that returning them to swap for the correct orientation was a faff so we made it work! Just the bridge pickup screws to swap for black ones when they arrive tomorrow. Why the strings don’t run between the pickup poles when i used a template to route is annoying but it doesn’t affect the sound and the bass sounds phenomenal especially with the tone rolled off. Very clear and quite a lot of mids and highs. Thanks to those who followed along and chipped in — always appreciated. On to the next build.

I blame the "keeping up with the drummer" mindset. Even I have fallen into that trap in my post. The drummer should be playing at the appropriate volume. Too many non-musical drummers playing at one volume. But that's another thread.

The challenge was lining up accurately enough for the original side dot holes to line up. That said, at least it would then be in exactly the right position! Held together, this was would be I was aiming for if at all possible: Dry, I used some spool clamps to hold the side to side position. I then drilled a couple of micro holes in the nut slot through to the neck and tapped in a couple of thin panel pins. Same at the back - I lifted a fret and put a couple in there too. At the back of the neck, I stuck a strip of hardwood along the neck spine temporarily with two-sided tape to use as a clamping caul: I pulled the fretboard off to apply the glue, then could use the projecting panel pins to relocate and prevent the board floating around under clamping. I used a series of radius blocks before putting around a dozen clamps to squeeze all of the glue out and get a closed joint on both sides all the way up the neck. Here is the first clamp - 11 more to go: And here it was glued, waiting for some replacement side dots (which come as a thin cylindrical stick) to be fitted: And re-oiled ready to return to @Owen

Forgive the poor scaling of the shots - I've directly pasted some random JPGs This was the thin fretted fretboard of one of @Owen's basses back in 2024. See how close the bottoms of the fret slots are to the bottom of the fretboard...that's not a lot of wood! The problem was a totally seized - and fully adjusted - trussrod With due warnings to Owen that it might well snap, I got out my trusty travel iron and sat it on the heel end for around 10 minutes, testing every now and again with a Stanley Knife blade: Once the glue was soft, I progressively moved the iron forward, sliding a steel sheet I use for bending acoustic guitar sides into and along the softened glue. Any thin steel can be used, a decorator's platter, a thin scraper - main thing is to slide horizonally...NEVER lift!! And you DON'T RUSH, and inch it along a few mm at a time: And eventually, it's off...and still in one piece. That is one well k*******d trussrod! :

Now showing as 'withdrawn'. Good work @Chris26 and those who contacted the auctioneers.