rubis

Not exactly new, it's a 2014 bass and I've had it a month or so now, but with one thing or another I haven't got round to posting anything, so I'll explain. The current Mrs C and I retired together on 26th June, and during the countdown - whilst planning our new lease of life - had decided on a retirement present each. Hers would be another (third) dog......she's obsessed with Scottish Terriers 🙄......mine would be something I could pass on to our daughter at some point. I've had an itch for a semi hollow bass for some time and had been getting back into the Byrds and the Grateful Dead, then I saw this little beauty for sale, and it fitted the bill perfectly. The only problem was that we were about to go on holiday and I didn't want to miss out on it, so we went from Plymouth to Southampton, via Manchester (on the day Oasis were starting their home gigs🥴) and it came with us on a cruise round the Mediterranean, where it celebrated it's 14th birthday🍰. It's in mint condition, has all the case candy with it, stating it's number 25 of something like 75 I think, but I'm not sure that this makes it particularly collectable or valuable. If Ruby can prise it out of my hands when I'm a bit older and weaker, I think she'll like it, it feels quite compact and the string spacing is a bit narrow for my big hands, but it will suit her fine and she's working on a suitable looking customised painted suede strap for it already. I don't know how close it is to an original vintage one, I should think it's more of an homage to Chris Hillman's '67 single pickup Starfire bass, but it's a lovely thing and I can't put it down at the moment. Its got roundwounds on it presently and I should think some flatwounds would be better suited, it's a bit bright and I'm hankering for some more whump! I might even consider adding a neck pickup? it's alright this retirement malarkey!

Love it, what a great feature!

thank you kindly

Can anyone recommend a safe reliable courier. I'm looking at buying a bass which is in Manchester and considering getting it couriered to Plymouth Can anyone recommend a safe, reliable courier? The bass comes with a case and will be boxed, but it is a semi-hollow. Or would the cost be around the same as fuel costs if I drove up and collected it myself, added to the additional peace of mind Any advice is welcome thanks

An early 1964 Precision for me, preferably a blue one. I could never get away with spending that amount on a guitar so I made my own, as close to spec as I could get it. I've never played a real one so I couldn't say how close I got, but that's beside the point, I really enjoyed doing it and I love playing it.

Yes it is, thanks A very nice neck

If you can't find this bass, or you are looking to build on like it, Musikraft offer a round lam fingerboard option, I can highly recommend them

Fabulous What a lovely thing to do

In that case silver, the pearl might end up a bit too much

For what it's worth, I'm leaning more towards the 'warmer' pearl, but the silver looks more 'defined' Maybe you could go halfway and add a smidge of amber into the clear coat as a sort of ageing/warming process

i think with some, Superior Drummer 3, possibly, you can make such tweaks, i think there might be some feature to change the leading hand, if that's what you mean?

What a beautiful thing

Thanks Mcgiver69 I just got their IR loader and the Vox IR's to use with the free NAM vst. It all works very nicely

Another nice freebie from the Bedroom Producer's Blog, the Waves Kramer HLS , a Helios channel strip, but again, it's only available for 48 hours https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2023/01/27/waves-kramer-hls-channel-free/

Waves Non Linear Summer is free for a short period Its best to get it via Bedroom Producer's Blog

This looks like a fantastic project, I'll be cheering on from the sidelines I am in the early, slow! stages of something similar myself, I saw this bloke from Big D guitars do on Youtube. He uses brocade which has a silver or gold metallic looking thread to give the paisley pattern, I'm going for a darkish blue and silver on a 5 string P or PJ

Plugin Boutique have BFD3 for £36.95 at the moment, I have used it for years, there are some great add-ons, particularly the Gretsch kit, and it sounds awesome https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/1-Instruments/64-Virtual-Instrument/848-BFD3

Fabulous work

Hi Chimike That looks awesome, the real thing You are a lucky man

Ampeg PF20t with my DIY B15 cab and my YOB '64 P bass, this is still making me smile

The neck had an angled headstock so I lined the squarest end of the new board up with the mark left behind where the old fingerboard met the nut. It was oversized so after gluing I trimmed it roughly with a table top belt sander (I don't have a band saw) and then sanded it by hand to finish, it was a bit more controlled (but slower) doing it that way

I removed one that way, it's a bit nervy and not something I'd care to do too often, but I had no other option, and it worked quite well I used a steam iron and got an old tea towel, damped it down and placed it on the fingerboard, then went from the body end towards the nut. I used new paint scrapers to start off, then as the glue heated up and the board began to separate, I used something a bit thicker to prise it apart and hold the gap open as I worked along the neck, an old wood chisel I think. Yellow Titebond is decent glue for your new finderboard, but do spend time getting the face of the neck properly prepared so that you get a good glue joint, there will be a fair bit of old glue residue left behind, and as it cools it will re-set best of luck mate