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The last year has been ... difficult! Fire destroying my flat, a back injury meaning that I am no longer able to work as an ICU bedside nurse and 'artistic differences' with a band I'd played in for 7 years. The support here on BC has been, well, I've no words! Thank you! xx My flat is scheduled to be restored by 11-Sep, 13 months after the fire! The builders have said that they are going to be able to cover the cost of a carpet which is amazing. The insurance are going to pay for me moving back (which is surprisingly expensive even tho it is just about 100m oer the road!) as well as the professional exit clean from my temporary rental. And this morning, I interview for a clinical Research Nurse (Cardiology) role and heard this afternoon that I have been offered the position, a big change ... but the "office hours" and lack of need to do a lot of moving of patients are just the ticket for my physical capabilities; but there are loads of things to learn and a lot of patient contact so my mind and my heart will still be fed! And the new band is slowly but surely moving forwards! S'manth x

So, for a while I have been eyeing up the new ocean turquoise Gretsch junior jet ii bass, not having a lot of disposable income my wife had offered a couple of times to go halves with me on the cost of one but I had always declined. Anyway the other day my wife told me that she had a delivery and asked if I would sign for it when the courier turned up. Anyway the courier turned up I signed for the delivery and then my wife told me to open the box, I thought maybe it was a new computer chair or something, I opened the box and my eyes lit up when I saw a Gretsch box inside the box, I was over the moon. Anyway it is a great bass, the photo doesn't do it justice, in person it is much prettier and the colour is much nicer, it sounds great too and if someone told me this bass sold for twice what this sells for i wouldn't question it at all

What a great place Basschat is. A goldmine of information, support, conversation and of course GAS. I’ve been on here a long time, like many of you have. Some of you may be new, if you are, you’re welcome. I’ve had a lot of help here, parts, advice, insights, opinions and all given with a real sense of a community, even if we don’t always agree with each other, which is often part of the fun, as long as it’s healthy disagreement and not nasty, which it rarely is here. There is no better resource on the internet for all things bass. Ask for help, you will get it, ask for advice, you will get it. No questions are stupid, all answers are welcomed. No opinions are ignored, all views are observed. Thanks to everyone who run the site, long may it continue.

Hello! Picked this Japanese beaut up on a whim the other day, because you can't have too many Sunburst Precisions.... right? Spec... Jazz neck, oval tuners, light weight (8½lbs, thanks to the basswood body, which is surprisingly pretty). So far, the usual cliches apply. It's very resonant, balances well, feels great, it's rich and punchy... I'm gigging it on Boxing Day, and as ever the proof will be in the (Christmas) pudding. I'll report back..

So in the mid 90’s my older brother used to put a VHS on called “Nirvana: Live Tonight Sold Out”. There was this Human shaped Spider guy on bass, about 19ft tall with 15ft long arms… He played these bloody handsome basses - and I obsessed about them, just staring at Adverts for used Gibson Basses. His sounds were really warm plummy and “boingy” - even with Fuzz/Overdrive sounds. Anyhow, the years came and went…I got into the dreaded Slapping and Tickling of basses, so the Gibson’s didn’t really seem to fit that ideal. Having recently joined an indie band, the time has come. With a huge helping hand from our very own @walshyand some selling and some inheritance… Here’s my new toy… 1970’s Gibson Ripper. And “that” sound is present. But also, shockingly…some funkier and Jazzier sounds are to be had. Going to experiment with the original 70’s bridge too. Its a decent weight - a shade over 9lbs. And while it’s evidently “old” - it’s by no means battered. It’s in lovely condition. I’m pretty smitten to be fair. ”never meet your heroes” - The old adage says… I say meet them! Natural next 😆

Cici here! Well, sadly I can’t help being a girl, and I have long hair because I like it. It has nothing to do with my playing, and I’ve never rested on my looks to gain followers, nor am I interested in anyone who does. I take great pride in being the best musician I possibly can be, and it’s about the music for me. I also dedicate a lot of my time to trying my best to help other people pick up the instrument, sharing any info I have, and seeing where I can push the instrument in my solo bass jams. I’m not interested in being an ‘instagram girl’ so please don’t diminish me to that, and take the time to truly look at what I do (whether you like it or not is fine). Thank you.

I’ve been progressing steadily in my playing since taking it seriously early last year. I landed a gig with a local jazz band, after meeting folks at the jazz jam in Lancaster and getting to know them, and we do the odd gig. We played yesterday at the Ribble Valley Jazz & Blues Festival and went down well. However, I’ve kept looking for other opportunities, JMB and Facebook being the main searches. Anyway, a few weeks ago, someone posted on JMB and Facebook looking for musicians for a soul/ska weddings/functions band. I answered the add, and after a bit of to and fro was sent 10 numbers to look at. This guy is a trumpet player and has sax and trombone already lined up. Basically it’s a horn section forming a band around themselves, and they’ve been playing together for about 20 years. A WhatsApp group was created, and over the course of the last few weeks, new people have been added to the group and introduced along the lines of “welcome Joe, our keyboard player”, “welcome Suzie our vocalist” etc. In the end it’s ended up with nine people in this “band” on WhatsApp who don’t know each other from Adam, and have never met, played together, or have any clue what standard anyone is at. Male and female vocals, keys, drums, guitar, bass (me), and three piece horn section. A rehearsal room was duly booked, and everyone showed up, to meet each other for the first time and play these 10 tunes. It was a nice room, plenty of room, with good PA, back line and drums provided. I had a Hartke head through 2 4x10 Ashdown cabs. Now, based on past experience, this could go in any direction, however, from the first count in of the first number, there were grins all round. Everyone had done their homework, the keys player and drummer are great, the guitar player knows what he’s doing, the horns are in tune and locked in with each other, and the singers can bleeding sing. We rattled through the 10 numbers twice, only pausing to fine tune starts and endings, agreeing where the pushes should be etc. I couldn’t really believe it, it was like a good band from the very first note. Some tunes we did again after wondering whether that perfect run through the first time was a fluke, but it wasn’t, it could be replicated. Get home later, the WhatsApp group is happy, another 10 tunes are distributed, rehearsals are booked and there’s talk of booking gigs already. I’m still not sure how this actually happened, I need to pinch myself. Is this a unique occurrence, or does this happen often? Anyway, I’ve got 10 more tunes to learn in the next week and a bit, and some of them are a bit tricky, so I’ll be practicing every night I can between now and then, as I know now that the whole band will have them nailed before they arrive. Rob

A few years back, I interviewed Paul Belgrado, a Belgian luthier who makes amazing basses. A bit retro looking and amazing craftsmanship. His basses have always been at the back of my mind somehow. Until last week, when I met him at the Dutch Double Bass Festival. I played one of his basses and was immediately sold. So, somewhere this week, this baby is going to enter my house. Specs: Thermo alder body, maple neck, madagascar rosewood fretboard, TV Jones Thunderblade pickups, Hipshot hardware, pearloid inlay and Luminlay sidedots. It's so light, so easy to play and it sounds so killer. Like a Jazz Bass but just a little bit fatter.

After a few beers at Christmas I ordered a knock off Dingwall from Ali express.. I woke up the next morning to an email from the seller asking what “customisations” I wanted.. what a treat.. a custom bass!!… so I went to town, orange finish, 3 x pickups, maple neck… and a custom headstock logo! It arrived this morning - it’s awesome!! Obviously it’s not actually a finely crafted, custom instrument - but the finish is pretty clean and it sounds good, all the electrics work and it’s very playable!! The hardware is a bit lightweight… but for £279… it’s a lot of bass!

I just took delivery of my Masterbuilt Alusonic J-Supreme. These are outstanding basses and definitely worth checking out! It has a great modern hifi sound and doesn’t need lots of tweaking with the 3 band eq. You guys have the luxury of going to Bass Direct to check them out, but I took a chance and totally relied on many discussions with Polly the owner of Alusonic to get the custom spec I needed. I’m going to sell my Sadowskys to finance another!

I've wanted a Yamaha BB1200 ever since I learned what Yamaha BBs were. Well now I have one. A 1978 model in natural, it has honest wear and bumps on it being 45 years old but it's sound as a pound and an absolute joy to play - thin frets on an ebony board, wide but not too chunky neck, it feels lovely. Sounds great too, reverse P be reversin'. This makes me feel fancy, in a similar way that my Wunkay does. I truly feel like I own one of the cornerstone basses of history. It weighs 9 and a half pounds, not too shabby for a late 70s bass. Enough chat, I'm off to play it some more!

After being made aware of some special pricing, on a thread here on BC, from those lovely folk at Thomann, I pulled the trigger on 40th Anniversary Squier Precision in trans(ish) blond, at £285 (28.5% off list), it was rude not to. It arrived today and straight out of the box, it screamed keeper. Everything as you’d expect from a well put together P, but at a price that seems impossible for the quality. It weighed in at 3.8kg, but I had a spare set of Hipshot, lightweight tuners, so fitted them straight away and that weight is reduced to a very acceptable 3.67kg (lighter than my Mustang). The 40mm nut width was also most welcome (the same as my Mustang). Matt body, satin neck make it pleasant to handle. The sound: a proper, full on P, with a very usable tone control. The nut was a little rough in places, but a nail file soon put that right. A bit of fret buzz on the G string around the 12th fret area also needed a little polish to the frets to remove that. I’m pleased, very pleased. I’ll update with more pics when I’ve fitted the tort guard I’ve ordered along with more thoughts after a few days of ownership.

Take 5 minutes for a story about a very fine chap. Before the start of the pandemic I ordered a Moollon PV having been in Seoul to visit YJ and Andi Roselund at the Moollon workshop a few months before. I was really taken with the PV's tone. So the Pandemic hit and after working in a factory building respirators for the NHS through most of it I then lost my job. Not good karma. Sadly having paid my deposit I wrote to YJ and Andi saying that I could not afford to continue with the purchase and I heard no more. A few weeks later I saw a red PV up for sale and thought no more of it knowing I could not afford another one. 2 1/2 years later I got a message from Andi saying that YJ had not sold the bass it was still there available for me... Jaw dropping moment. They never got the email and YJ hadn't sold it - he kept it for me. What other maker would do something like that? I had in the meantime managed to get myself back on my feet and could complete the sale. Last week I took delivery of the bass I ordered three years ago. Delivered in pristine condition and sounding like a complete beast. I'm overjoyed to have this bass. I thought I had lost it and out of the kindness of YJ I do. What a bloody awesome bloke - unreal. The bass BTW is staggering, the low end is so deep but articulate and the higher register is thick like a short scale. Its ridiculously good, and oh the colour.. Red............ Red...... Red........

I’ve been drunk many times in my life, but never Ali Express Dingwall with a Tesco logo drunk

I was my worst auditionee. The band (2 guitars, drums) sent me a list of songs. I rehearsed them for days on end, then turned up for the audition. They launch into a song without saying what it is. Then another and another. Some are in different keys from the originals. I have no clue, none whatsoever. At one point, mid-song, the lead guitarist wanders over, picks up my left index finger and physically places it at the correct fret. Then he wanders back again. Finally he says: "Roxette?" I say: "The Swedish duo?" "Nah, Feelgood." I'd never heard it before. It wasn't on the list. In the end they just ignore me and play on. Audition over I pack up and the band repair to the pub (I'd been told that going to the pub after band practice was mandatory as part of band bonding). "You coming?" one of them says. "Me? Sure." I follow in my car. In the pub I sit at the table saying nothing while they chat. I am feeling dreadful. What a complete and utter horlicks. I'm burning with embarrassment and shame. Then the lead guitarist looks over. "You in?" I couldn't believe it. They turned out to be a great bunch of guys and great musicians (the lead guitarist in particular). I learnt very quickly after that. Memorable gigs followed. I learnt later how I'd got in. Sheer desperation on their part. Not a single bass player for miles around. Not one. Except me.

I suppose I should let the cat out of the bag now. This arrived last Thursday, but I wanted to keep it a surprise for the SW Bass Bash. So there. I was speaking to some folk on LowEndLobster's discord server and someone shared a video of some coverage of Harley Benton's stand at the recent Guitar Summit show in Germany. They were showing their prototype stuff, not set to release until next year and this semi-hollow beastie caught my eye, the HB-50. Looked nice, sounded good when the guy in the video played it. The conversation moved onto whether or not it was long scale and how it might compare to Harley Benton's extant semi-hollow bass offering (the HB-60) so I idly went on to Thomann's site to look at the HB-60. Lo and behold, listed next to it was a B-stock HB-50, only a single piece of stock, hadn't even been photographed. I quickly realised that this was Thomann selling some of their show demonstrator instruments. Long scale indeed, semi hollow, looked like a great mod platform, so... tae me! Enough effin' preamble... First impressions - Good - "light signs of usage" means fingerprints (phew!), looks great, very well made, doesn't feel cheap, fret ends are inboard of the neck binding so absolutely no sharp edges, 22 frets, uses a standard pickup shape (MM) so easily modded, tuners feel fine - turn easy with no play, plays really nice. Bad - pots are garbage (taper is dreadful, like only the last 10% of the turn does anything), pickup switching is lazy and pointless (north coil, both in parallel, south coil - the differences are imperceptible to all but the pickiest of listeners and I'd challenge any of them to hear a difference in a band mix), pickup is too far from the strings so it's a bit quiet and it won't go any higher - screws just come loose. I intend to rewire this. I think the pickup sounds fine - according to the specs it's an Artec of some kind - I wonder if the finished pieces will have their frequently used Roswell pickups instead? But it needs rewired. New pots obvs, but thinking of replacing the switch with a rotary of some kind for series/parallel options. Fixed the pickup height issue tonight - there were a few paltry squares of foam under there, but nowhere near enough to push it up to where I want it. I had spare springs from my Epi Les Paul black and gold nonsense, so I put springs on the screws, now I can have the pickup as high as I want it. Seriously, it was at least 5mm lower than this when it arrived and unable to go higher.

Having made music with my friend Nick since 1989 (first proper band / gig together), we've finally made an album. No hard sell but if anyone wants to check it out for free on Spotify / Amazon / whatever your preferred streaming platform is, "...Beyond Reverence" by Deadlight Dance is out today. Probably filed best under 80s Goth but it has enough layers to hold the interests of anyone who isn't expecting "Mega Party Mix Anthems 37". Of course I played bass on it but I also co-wrote all the originals, co-produced, co-arranged... as well as doing some mandolin, electric drums, acoustic drums, singing and Bass VI. If anyone is REALLY keen, search us out on Bandcamp and support the band but I'm certainly happy with a few of you checking us out. This was only supposed to be one jam once lockdown restrictions eased! We're performing the album acoustically on mandocellos (as you do!) Sat 16 Sept - SWINDON Shuffle onstage at The Beehive in Old Town at 7.15pm Thurs 21 Sept - MILDENHALL, WILTS The Horseshoe Sat 23 Sept BATH Chapter 22 (supporting Ghost Dance). And any follows across any of the social media platforms is always appreciated.

Say hello to my midlife crisis bass - the Epiphone Korina Explorer. I spied it in a photo someone took of the Gallery during their visit and it caught my eye. I caved when they told me it came with the hard case. I think the black pickguard makes all the difference - all of the natural ones I've seen up until now have white and I think that looks a bit naff. Haven't had a war volume play yet but it sounds good in headphones and at low amp levels. Ergonomics are better than expected - balances really well on a proper strap (so take that, Mr. Dibble). It's long, it's ridiculous and I love it. Also has the biggest hard case I've ever seen! That last pic is the hard case of my G&L next to the Explorer's case, with the left sides aligned.

I see your singers and raise you a keyboardist. This is where my lifelong distrust and aversion for keyboardists comes from... Once upon a time I answered an ad for a funk band with female singers. It was like an X factor style audition being run by the guitarist who was a decent enough chap but the songs were more indie rock. There were loads of other guitarists and drummers there but only me as a bassist so I was kept. A week later and we audition a keys player. Dave shows up, long hair, looks like he wants a job in IT support but isn't bright enough, spends forever setting up his scaffolding for all his keyboards while talking about all these festivals he's played where the soundman didn't even have x, y z but of kit we've never heard of. Eventually he's ready to play a song. He hasn't listened to the audition songs or come prepared in any way. Stereophonics song? "Oh..... Errrr, Welsh band aren't they? I think I might have heard them on a cassette. My girlfriend is Welsh." Ummm thanks Dave. He plink plonks a couple of notes while we play. He doesn't even try to overwhelm us with weird sound effects, he just stands there looking confused the whole night, even when we tell him the chords. Guitarist invites him back the next week if he can learn some of the songs. Next week. Dave has clearly not learned anything and I doubt if he could achieve Grade 1 piano. After bashing through some songs hoping he will catch up guitarists says "let's pack away and when he goes get all our gear back out". I've packed away and Dave is still dismantling his huge keys rig so I get bored and say F this I'm off home. Half an hour later I get a call from the guitarist through gritted teeth: "I know you haven't got them, but can you check all your pockets and cases for Dave's car keys? We've turned the place upside down and just can't find them." I didn't have them. A long while later I get a text. Dave's car keys were eventually found after checking everywhere including in the till of the pub. They were in the pocket of his hoodie all along. I never saw Dave again. I've never played with a keys player since.

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.

Christmas Day has come early for me today. I have been extremely lucky enough to acquire an absolute beauty of a bass from the master Alan Cringean of ACG. The piece is an absolute dream to play and the tone from it is exquisite. This one is the Finn version, 5 string with a 33 inch scale. Incredibly smooth, comfortable and a joy to play. The body core is black limba with the top wood being ebony with a blood wood accent. Headstock is ebony matched. The neck is 3 piece maple with a bloodwood fingerboard with ebony blocks. Stunning! Hardware is a Hipshot bridge with Gotoh tuners. The pickups are ACG SB70 single coils paired with a John East Uni-Pre 4 preamp. It plays incredible and the pics don’t do it justice. One tasty bass. Alan as usual was excellent and a gent as always. The craftsmanship is second to none. If you’ve ever been in two minds about committing to an ACG build then don’t. Have a good look at the website and the various options available to you and contact Alan. Now for the pics Cheers Stuart

Of course. I learned early on (12 years ago) that I would be a rubbish bass player. So I focused on what I was good at and enjoyed - packing, sending and receiving cardboard boxes and selling gear at a loss. I could probably be as happy just sending myself empty boxes to open.

I recently collected this piece, having won it in a proper auction. It could be a very late '63 but is more probably very early '64 as it doesn't have the raised logo. It's a feather weight, as it's hollow. One volume control is seized but I'm going to try and take it apart and repair it. It needs a tuner ferrule and a screw for one machine head I've plugged it in and it has that sound. I may name it Paul, after my late brother who was born in '64

After many years of owning precision basses and churning through them I think I’ve finally found one that might be a keeper…. Its a Fender American Vintage ii Precision Bass, it just hits the mark of what I’ve always been yearning for sound wise but struggled to obtain previously - to say I’m very pleased is an understatement 🙂

Ok, so this is a NBD post but there's a bit of a story to go with it. I've had the bass a couple of months but I wanted to make sure I was keeping it before posting about it. Anyways, I'll do my best to keep it brief. For as long as I can remember I've known that I'm a bit different, life has been a constant struggle & to be honest, just down right cruel at times but this is not about seeking sympathy or anything. My favourite saying had become "I can't wait for this planet to stop spinning so I can get off". With that said, my one true constant love has always been music & even on the darkest of days music has been there, a steadfast companion as loyal as they come. After spending almost a decade trying to figure myself out with no help from the NHS the answers finally came from my employers occupational health dept. They steered me in the right direction & along with the diagnoses came the discovery of my own spirituality (ok, I know most will leave this post now so thank you for reading this far). It was a relief & I binned off all the self help books but as an avid reader this left a hole in my spare time. So digging around my bookshelf for something to get stuck into I found my copy of "the music lesson". I had read Victor's book years ago & to be honest I thought it was pants. But with fresh eyes I had another go at it & began to think about my place in music as a musician. I discovered a few things, firstly, I had become a collector of basses, nothing at all wrong with that but it was never my intention & secondly, I didn't know what my "sound/style" was. I had gotten very good at imitating other people but there was no individuality in my playing. I wasn't "moving" myself so how could I possibly be "moving" the audience with my playing. I just wasn't grooving man! So after much thought I decided to sell on my beautiful basses because as gorgeous as they are & as lucky as I was to have them none of them were "the one". Off they went to members here & on a total whim in the early hours one morning I stumbled across this wonderful 90s Tobias & brought it. I know it's a Gibson model & purists might turn up their noses but it's actually a fine instrument, or at least it will be. When it came it needed a good set up & the dual truss rods gave me some grief but I stuck with it & got the neck nice & straight only to discover this particular bass also came with plenty of high frets. Awesome. Off it went to the shop I use to have them leveled & I asked my mate Rob to give it a nice low action as I wanted to force myself to play with a lighter touch. I've kept a Lakland 5 string because it was a gift from my wife & it's always useful to have a 5 but for the last two months or so this is the only bass I've played, or even wanted to play. I'm more inspired to play bass now than I've ever been & this bass really draws me up the dusty end. I'm not in a band at the minute so all my time is spent improvising & playing what's in my head with little thought & it feels liberating. It's like I've cut out there middle man & I'm really starting to discover my own sound. The only thing left to do is fit the East bass/treble stack eq that I have because I think the active contour it has standard really limits the Bartolini pickups. So, long story short, the last few years & challenges that they brought have led me to this bass & the musical self discovery I'm experiencing now. I'm a "one bass kinda guy" now & I really like it. If you read this far thank you! I'm sure you deserve to see a picture of my awesome bass 😁

It’s so much more than just a hobby (I hate that term), it’s a way of life. For me, playing bass, and creating art, gets me through a bad day and makes a good day better. I’ve had an awful week. It’s been very stressful, both at work and for personal reasons. I felt very low on soul coal. An hour on my Thunderbird put a smile back on my face. It’s therapy, it’s energy, it’s SO important for my mental health. I love it.

With a landmark birthday imminent, I decided to treat myself to new bass. Which would be an upgrade to the two Squier classic vibe bases I’ve been playing for a while. (A Mustang and a Jaguar). I’ve been down many internet rabbit holes, thinking about options. But haven’t had much of a chance to try out any contenders, given the lack of shops that stock much more than the most popular models. Especially given I was trying to decided if I prefer short or medium scale. So I decided to make the trip from Cardiff to the Guitar Show in Birmingham last Saturday, to actually touch some basses. The plan was to check out some basses by Reverend, Sandberg, anything else that might be interesting and pay a visit to the Vintage Bass Room stand to try something a bit more classic (just to see). I was impressed with basses by Reverend,Sandberg and a couple of lovely medium scale builds from @Manton Customs. But none of them made me smile like the vintage basses that @walshy and @AndyTravis where showing off at the Vintage Bass Room stand. Turns out what I really needed in my life was a well played in 2EQ stingray. It looks fantastic, but plays and sounds even better. So it came home with me. I was planning to keep it in its case for over week to make the lead up to the big day exciting. I lasted 24 hours. Spent about an hour with it yesterday at home, through my Ashdown studio 15 combo. Happily the bass plays and sounds just as good I remember at home. I’m looking forward to getting into a rehearsal room in a couple of week to see how it sounds with drums and guitar. Just need to get a proper band sorted so I can get gigging with it. Here’s a picture at home, much better pics and more details can be found at Vintage Bass Rooms Thanks @walshy for making it possible for to own such a great instrument, and being great to deal with.

So, today on the way home from a work trip I met a chap that sold me an amp... That amp was a Marshall VBA400 with a Jubilee 410 and 115. The cabs have seen better days, cosmetically they have their war wounds, but the work a treat! The amp has a few tiny little marks, but would probably rank 8.5 out of 10 for condition. Just lugged this colossus down to the garden studio some 300ft away from the driveway (yes, my spine is now dust) and set it up. It's quite monstrous... it's current set at about one quarter volume and gain and its still making my ears bleed. Given it has 8 KT88 valves powering it I shouldn't be too surprised. Pumps out +400w of glorious Marshall valve bass goodness! Given I play 6 string bass, and mostly prefer a more HiFi sound, I am pleasantly surprised that the 'bright' button really does hit the mark for me. Been lusting after one of these for probably 20 years! Happy to now have one and not be disappointed.

Well I never thought I'd get one of these - However, I had a noodle on one recently, and was rather taken by it. I was never fussed on the shape / design of these, but one of my bands supported the brilliant Wigan folk band "Merry Hell" at Acapela Studios in Cardiff in December. Their bassist had one of these and it sounded great. Chatting afterwards (he spoke very generously of my upright playing, which was really nice of him) anyhow, he was an interesting guy, and he handed me his bass, for a noodle. I was absolutely amazed at how little it weighed, and how nice it felt to play. Now I know some BC folk will wonder why so many of us on here obsess about the weight of an instrument - but trust me, it can become an issue as you get older and / or injure a joint / muscle / ligament. Also, I often double-up, playing upright for half a gig and Bass guitar the other half - and anything that helps reduce the weight of "stuff" I need to lug about is a blessing. Given how good Merry Hell's bassist sounded - I thought I'd get one and give it a whirl. So far, so good - in fact, I'm pretty blown away by how comfortable it is to play. Balances nicely, the neck is slim, but doesn't feel as slim as a Hofner. The fret ends are all nicely finished. Due to the body shape, it's easy to reach the high end of the neck. 24 frets too btw - if you're inclined to reach that far! Lol. I really like the sound too. BTW - anyone got any tips for short scale, low tension flatwounds that will wrap around the tiny guitar tuners?

Keyboards Dave was almost as weird as the drummer.... So eight years ago I got together with a guitarist and singer to do 80s indie I guess you'd call it. I liked the two of them and we clicked so we got some songs together as bass, two guitars and vox and looked for a drummer. Drummer answers ad saying all the right things. Except he wants to rehearse a long way away, being the only one with a car out of the three of us I'm happy to drive us there. We get there and the drummer, I think also a Dave, is flapping around with the studio staff because the kit isn't right and he needs something really specific and can't believe they haven't got it... Etc. We play one or two songs and he's ok. He can't stop talking though. He keeps telling us how it would be great if we did Crazy Horses by the Osmonds, Robbie Williams Let Me Entertain You... We are fixed on Talking Heads, Camper Van Beethoven, the Waterboys so we don't think this will fit. The guy just doesn't stop talking about how his last bands were so great playing the Osmonds. We have a drinks break and we can't get a word in edgeways. Drummer keeps saying how some people don't like him because he has all these ideas but surely we should just talk about it and agree or disagree. This is a valid point though his actions are suggesting he will talk until you agree with him. He gave us a set list he thinks we should do... Having not met us before, not registered that we've already been working on something, and not registered that we aren't doing karaoke in a flat-roof pub type songs. We play some more. He tells us how on stage he wants us to set up with his drums at the front because nobody else does that. He tells us he has a headset mic and wants to lead vox on some songs. When we are leaving with all our gear packed up he runs over, slams the door shut, turns off the lights and then starts playing with glow in the dark drum sticks. We leave confused, slightly scared. And never contact him again.

This actually arrived on Friday, but I thought I'd wait until I'd fitted a Babicz 3-point bridge and set it up with Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats before posting a NBD. I finished setting it up today and now it really feels like it is mine. This was secondhand but in mint condition — the previous owner hadn't even taken the plastic film off the pickguard and truss rod cover. It still had the stock strings. which I guess were nickel rounds and sounded new and zingy. I have replaced the stock bridge which to be honest is only a pain in the rear when you remove strings and the saddle falls out. I decided to go for a babicz after initially favouring a hipshot. This decision was based mostly on how well it fitted in visually and I don't think it has changed the tone much if at all. The faded Pelham Blue finish looks really good and there isn't a single chip, scratch or dent anywhere on the bass. The tone seems brighter than my Epiphone vintage Pros, but that could be due to the strings being new. With the neck pickup soloed it sounds huge. I particularly like the hipshot tuners which are really smooth in use and I think the mini clover shape and the chrome hardware look considerably better than the Y tuners and black hardware on Gibson's current reverse thunderbird model.

Arrived today from the USA...not to be used before Christmas ....ha

Can't believe I've done this. I've been playing for 25 years or so (with a gap of a few years in the middle) but I'm no more than an enthusiastic amateur. My main 'gig' is in the band of my church. Always said that one day I'd love to get a really nice bass, and that day has arrived. Sold my previous pride and joy (motorbike) and have put some of the funds to work on this. Just had delivery of this beautiful Sandberg California TT4 in aged rochfort blue. Just getting to know it a bit, but overjoyed with first impressions on noodling about with it! I love the attention to detail which has clearly gone into the aged finishing.

Appreciate this might not be for everyone, but if anyone fancies some bank holiday viewing, my little gothic duo recently made a short 20 minute film with a very old friend (Haunting the Atom) about growing up in a small town, discovering bands (Cure, Sisters of Mercy, Joy Division etc) and getting into bands ourselves. Months of planning went into this (complicated by my Mum passing a few days prior to filming, after a very long illness). Essentially it is a live performance in an old Saxon Church, interspersed with some talk of our roots.An album of the same name is also streaming everywhere worldwide from today. I normally play bass on the original stuff but as we swap out instrumentation, the bass doesn't appear until later. Check it out, I am sure many of you will relate to some of this - even if you like different style of music. It is beautifully shot.

I formed a blues band nearly 2 years ago with the intention of ensuring I play maybe 18 gigs a year for the next few years. That is the minimum that will keep me motivated, practising and keeping my core basses. I am nearly 68 and know my present good health won’t last indefinitely. The recent passing of my great pals @bumnote and @yorks5stringer has reinforced my determination to play till I drop. Like many I know, my career has been a ‘doughnut’, with parental years the hole in the middle. So I intend to enjoy every last bite!

And...it's finished!!!! The 'last few jobs' always turn out to be a 'myriad of final jobs. Anyway, all sorted. I'm passing it across to Alex tomorrow - I will try and get him to do a bit of recording at one of their band practices but, in the meantime, you'll have to trust me when I say it sounds great Although it is just a small wiring change and no hardware change, I've opted NOT to go for the P-rails standard wiring system which gives: Full series humbucker; parallel humbucker; P90; Rails. I've used that system in a number of my own gigging guitars and I found that: - the fact that both pickups are always in the same configuration for the four options is actually, ironically, quite limiting. I was always hankering for, such as, 'neck pickup full series humbuck for the depth, mixed with bridge pickup in split coil mode to add a bit of extra treble and dispel any muddiness' and similar - I also never, in practice, used the rails by themselves...not enough ooomph - and I never, in practice, used the humbuckers in parallel...not enough depth I talked that through with Alex and, for kickoff, we decided to have a standard split coil option for both pickups where the operating coil in each case was the P90. So he can go full series humbucker with 3 way options, P90 with 3 way options and one (either) pickup P90 and the other series humbucker. It's a 30 minute job to change the wiring to the 'P-rail standard' options if he wants to try that in the future. Anyway, here are some of the arty-farty finished pics: Many thanks for looking and for your kind comments - in spite of the fact that it is another one from 'the dark side'. It's hugely appreciated

A rock guitarist plays 3 chords to 1,000 people, a jazz guitarist plays 1,000 chords to 3 people 😜

Well, look fast. Im only in the video for about 8 seconds. Blue

I absolutely see it as the former. It’s the first thing I look at in the morning, and the last thing at night. It’s a blessing (banter, information) and a curse (for sale section), but it’s a safe place, full of like minded folks, of all backgrounds and ages. Some people here I’ve known for decades, some I meet on a daily basis, and most feel like friends. I was relatively young ish when BC started, now I’m not, and I’m definitely financially worse off. Of course there’s often a difference of opinion, sometimes even a bit of needle, but mostly we’re all on a similar road, just don’t mention politics 😒 Generally though, to have this resource as a reference for information and advice about all things Bass is a wonderful thing, and I just think everyone involved in the running of Basschat should have a pat on the back. Because it takes a lot of work to keep this place going. 🤘🏻