Leaderboard

Well, this has been quite a project. A little over two years ago I bought my first Precision. I wanted a shoreline gold one, but since those only came in unaffordable price brackets, I bought a Mexican P with the foolish idea of refinishing it myself. Having had prior experience with utterly destroying a guitar’s resale value, the one good idea I had was deciding to build my own body (with help) and finish that instead. So far, it’s already had a pretty rough gigging life, but it’s my absolute favourite guitar ever. After swapping out pretty much everything else, I decided to purchase a lovely carbon-reinforced neck from a builder in the south of Holland. So, after an agonising period of waiting and having to miss my favourite bass - at long last - here’s the result. On the right is the old bass, and on the left is what resulted from changing pretty much everything about it to my personal preferences. It’s frighteningly resonant and it has ridiculous, Tufnel-esque sustain - even if it turned out a bit heavier than I imagined... Anyway, there are many P’s out there, but this one is mine. Now all I have to do is figure out what to do with the old one.

So would a belt sander but there's more than one way to skin a cat. Actually the belt sander would do that as well

Yes to both.

So, initial impressions... My first instrument, so don't have anything to compare to, but the trbx174 feels nice and solid (without being overly heavy) and well made. The knobs all feel solid and I feel confident I've got a good 'un. Had to tune it as it wasn't close to being in tune... That's fine, I expected that. Lots of fret buzz, but I have mostly eliminated that by adjusting height of the action using allen key included (might get someone more professional to do a proper set up at some point though). Looking forward to getting it hooked up to an amp soon and getting more of a feel for the tone (and checking I don't have crackly pots etc). Had nice time noodling with it yesterday... No time today, as missus has had me working in the garden and now I'm gonna chill watching the FA cup and *cough* Eurovision 😂 Will start the proper learning on it soon!

It did! I'd link to my post under the gig last night thread but I can't find how to link a specific posting, so: We were the 'Grizzly Beers' and on second. The sound was spot on as you might expect from a venue with a proper stage and a list of past bands like this: Were were hoping not to make fools of our selves but in the end we had a great reception and everyone was saying how good we were, especially how we fitted all the instruments together. We started with Going Back Home as easy to play and a crowd pleaser. The Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting which is a tad more challenging! Our secret weapon was Boulevard of Broken dreams where we got all those stops spot on, including the end - our effort to practice endings really paid off. We did 40 minutes and finished with My My, Hey Hey. I started it with my HM2 pedal dialled and a plaintive howl of feedback, calmed down a bit for most of the song, and finished with HM2, tremelo, flanger, EQ and chorus on and the compressor off! The plan was to go out with a bang and it turned out we managed to make a picture fall off the wall at the far end of the building in the next room 🙂 We ended witha group hug! A few moments of sheer terror, but in the end we all had a brilliant time and the other bands were great too! We are meeting up in a couple of weeks top discuss a plan for world domination!

If somebody asked me for a video of a bass I was selling I'd have to say no. My phone doesn't take videos. On a general level, if a buyer requires the level of information the OP seems to be demanding then the buyer needs to decide if this kind of sale is right for him. Seems like he needs to see the bass and play it before he hands over his cash. I understand that once bitten twice shy is a valid view point and bad experiences make people wary, but if the OP is so particular or worried then he needs to see that bass. As a seller, I have dealt with a very picky buyer and in the end I decided it wasn't worth the hassle because after I had sent him the bass he was probably going to find a fault and try to back out of the deal. To the OP, there will be another bass along later. Wait until you can try the bass.

Sunbury’s not a million miles away from me... If you can make it to Surrey this eve (near Gatwick airport) you’re welcome to borrow my Ashdown ABM500 and/or Barefaced Super Compact

@mcnach back to T-Bird - I popped a telebird together. Epi Nikki Sixx body needed repair, and had no neck, so I repaired it and added a tele neck which needed a shave and voila. its not bad!

What kind of music do you want to play? That should lead your choice. These Chorus - thickens up your sound and adds a 'shimmer' to the top end. Good for melodic lines, subtle, especially if you use a guitar flanger with bass (which can work well as it keeps the bottom end clear and spices up the higher tones). Flanger - deeper more in-your-face version of chorus, used slow can give a swooshing rather artificial sound. I tend to use it when I want an obvious effect. Phaser - gentler version of phase and chorus as it affects a broader range of sounds. I find this very lovely but less popular these days. [Use chorus+flanger at very different rates for really wild sounds as they intermodulate, good for 'psychedelic effects'.] EQ pedal - can be useful if used with care. Essential if you have to use other people's amps with lots of confusing dials as you can set up a 'neutral tone' and use the pedal to get the sound you like. Use to get two different sounds if you have a 1-pickup bass or to get a different sound for special effect. I prefer to use it with subtle bass boost if I need some welly when using the bridge pickup. Distortion - very personal. I have a HM2 for completely wrecked sounds, but most people want a much subtler effect. The higher harmonics ina distorted sound often make chorus/flange etc. more noticeable. Delay - Thickens your sound but can get rid of definition I find what sounds good to me sounds awful when played back as it ovewhelms other instruments, best used in small doses. Tremelo - very cheap effect that adds a wobble or even a stutter (depending on depth) without affecting the note pitch. Useful for some genres like surf music. Usually best used in a subtle way as too much and it can 'overlays' a rhythm on your playing (OK if you want this!). Compressor - vary from simple on/off effects on some amps to flight-deck complexity. I use mine with attack and sustain near middle values and adjust level so it matches me playing normally. My aim is to use fairly subtly to even out levels when playing varied lines. Slap players generally more compression to balance out the extreme differences between hard slaps and pops and gentler muted notes. Turn off when you want to emphasise dynamics (i.e. play soft and then loud). Tuner - really useful and most can also act as a mute pedal. Next to add for me? Octaver - I really like the sound. Main thing with effects is don't over-use them. Make sure you have a good sound without any effects (except perhaps EQ and compression) and rely on pickup switching/tone know for most changes of sound. Bring in effects only when needed, over-effected instruments can be tiring to listen to. That said, they can be great fun if you find an excuse for stomping on several at once!

Hi fellow basschatters! After 30 years of being 100% dedicated to all things bass-related, I lost my mojo and worried it was gone forever. Fortunately it has come back with a vengence and I thought it might be helpful to share my story for others possibly facing this in their own bass career. Here's the video...