neepheid

22 hours ago, TimR said:

I think the point here - for me anyway - is why would I spend £3k on a bass if I'm just doing pub gigs?

Because you're worth it.  Don't let that pesky imposter syndrome get in your way.  And lose the "just".  Even "just" doing pub gigs you are already in the rarefied air of musicians who actually make it out of the bedroom.

1 hour ago, MoonBassAlpha said:

My old luthier's wife had one. He said the neck was so susceptible to changes in humidity he could use it as a hygrometer. He put it down to the wood/ebanol fingerboard neck combo.

The thing that puzzles me about this one is that I don't think the fingerboard is ebonol - it's not jet black, I can see grain in it (and in the light), pretty sure it's a wood of some sort, if not rosewood then some other dark wood.  And the grain on the back of the neck looks a lot like wenge to me.  I have no idea what the "AL" in "CURBOW 4 AL" on the back of the headstock means, but maybe it's a clue?

9 minutes ago, Richard R said:

Also @neepheid - do yoy fancy running the 2026 challenge? Give you something to do as a displacement activity from buying and selling basses? 😉

I would be open to the possibility.

33 minutes ago, LeftyJ said:

Interesting! On the old ATK's it was parallel - north - north with a treble cut (and the center coil activated in both single coil settings as a phantom coil). 

Yes, these later models have a quad coil pickup, but they don't have individual wires for each coil, you can only operate them in pairs.  The stock switch does this:

And the middle setting (parallel) blows IMO, hence the impending mod.

As I went down the road to the SE Bass Bash in November I stopped off en route to purchase a bass for the hell of it, a Cort Curbow.  I had always been really intrigued about them, what with their use of man made materials and I always thought they looked pretty neat in some finishes.  I spied one for sale, a sunburst one and figured "what the hell?"

So, I like how it looks, and I like how it feels to play.  Unfortunately, whilst sounding fine in headphones, it was utter garbage live with the band.  Where are my mids?  This thing is so scooped by default that they're barely noticeable.  I had to crank the mids on the preamp AND crank them on the amp just to be audible, seriously, it just disappeared.

Well, I picked it up for a tasty low price so I figured it was worth modding.  I procured a Bartolini Classic Bass soapbar of the appropriate size and shape (MK4CBC) (thanks @Bass Direct) and someone on here sold me a Glockenklang 3 band preamp for a decent price (cheers @Fettsman) and got to work on the mods.

Fitting the pickup was a piece of cake, the only thing of note I had to do was accomodate 2 screws on one side instead of one.

Then I replaced the stupid "slap switch" (which scoops an already inherently scooped bass some more - WHY?) with a much more useful parallel/single/series switch and fed the pickup into that.

However, fiting the preamp was another matter.  This body is thin, and to compound the issue, the knobs are sunk into the top.  There was no effing way that Glock was going to fit in there as supplied.  I mean, I was modding it anyway - don't need a blend control on a single pickup bass after all.

First problem - the body of the push pull volume control was just too tall, even if the shakeproof washer was eschewed.  So out with the drill and the forstner bit to remove some material from the cavity to sink it down enough so the lid will go down...

Just made it!  Not a lot of material left, but this luthite stuff seems sturdy so I think it'll be OK.  Then onto the main board, which was way too tall.  So, to scheming.  Thankfully, while the control cavity in the Curbow may be shallow, it is thankfully quite wide.  Lots of dead space above where the bass pot would go...

So to cut a long story short, I turned it through 90 degrees.  The pot legs wouldn't bend enough while it was mounted, so I had to desolder the pot, bend little 90 degree nubs on the ends of the terminals then resolder it thus:

 >>>>> 

Did a test fit (the small board attached to the mid pot was able to be bent sufficiently with the pot in situ)...

Yas, the lid closed.  So I soldered up the rest of the wires...

Cheeky little single connector block thing for the myriad ground wires I had to connect together...

Great success!  It now has mids when the preamp is flat!  I took it to a subsequent band rehearsal and praise be, I was able to hear myself with the preamp set flat.  MIssion accomplished!

I hope you enjoyed this shaggy dog story and if you only take away one thing from this, is that it's usually true what they say - where there's a will, there's a way...

Well, so that I don't fall foul of gear abstinence rules next year, I've ordered the on-off-on switch required to make it north (single)/series (both)/south (single), instead of north/parallel/south as it is wired stock.

And in case you're wondering, this is what I'll be doing with it:

38 minutes ago, bassbiscuits said:

Alas, it is guitar and drums which are their calling….

Get them told!  What next, supporting the "wrong" football team?  It's a slippery slope...

6 minutes ago, bassbiscuits said:

I’m pretty much done in terms of my own gear. If Ive survived this long without something I probably don’t need it. 
 

But with both my kids now learning to play, my plans for an acquisition-free 2026 are already perilously holed below the water line…. 

Does buying a bass for someone else count? But you must not come to acquire it later on in the year...

12 minutes ago, Franticsmurf said:

I will choose the bass based on the type of gig - i.e. I wouldn't have played my headless bass at a recent C&W themed gig (Squire PJ). And an Eagles tribute night looked better (in my opinion) with me playing my Precision than my Sterling Stingray. And as they are performances, looks are important.  Sadly, nothing can make me look particularly fancy. 🙂

I guess I should have made it clear that I was only talking about my own personal situation, where I'm not talented enough/too lazy to spin that many plates.  I'm in two bands which haven't changed in years, and I don't do deps (because I'm a lazy, mediocre player at best and can't/won't learn a swathe of songs at the drop of a hat or be able to busk through them surfing along on my limited powers of improvisation and intuitive foresight).  So it really doesn't matter what bass I play at my gigs, because I make the rules, neither of them are tribute acts (where I agree with you, you have to look the part as well as sound it) and the genre never changes.  Also, I'm the kind of contrarian who would *love* to play a T-bird or an Ironbird or something pointy at a country gig, just to mix things up/generate tuts.

Well, you've probably already seen it, but my preparations for next year are done - cleared out all bass and music related gear from my FB Marketplace and ebay watch/save lists, and got one final hit before going cold turkey...

https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/520914-nbd-ibanez-atk200

Right, ready to sign up when the 2026 thread goes live!  No basses living rent free in my head, feel good, feel confident that 2026 will be a year of great success (and improved prosperity)...

5 minutes ago, ezbass said:

When I finally ‘jumped ship’ to the low end, I very nearly went for one of these. I can’t remember what it sounded like (are they really ‘Ray-alikes?) but I do recall some weight. One of Joe Bonamassa’s early bassists, Eric Czar, used ATKs.

Honestly, mate, I don't know and I've never really taken the time to find out.  Actual 'Rays never appealed to me.  If I've ever played one, it'll have been briefly at a bass bash or something.  People just call this the "Stingray killer", probably because the Internet is built from beef.  Always beef about something, trying to get a rise out of some group or other.  I have no idea how true it is, the whole "Stingray killer" thing, and I don't really care.  I can tell you this sounds like it'll be tasty live, plenty mid poke, even when the EQ is set flat.  I might be modding the switch though - the two pairs of coils together in parallel is pretty scooped sounding and easily my least favourite sound of the three.  Might mod the switch to be north pair/both in series/south pair in the future.

It is on the chonky side of things - 4.7kg/10.34lubs according to the bathroom scales.  Personally, I consider this to be a middleweight, but I know many have other ideas (and unfortunately for some, it's not a simple preference, but a physical requirement for their basses to be lightweight).

And I'm of the unpopular opinion that they all do the same job.  Now, which one will make me look fancy tonight?

I'm going to try to do gear abstinence next year, so I thought I'd have one final swatch at FB marketplace.  I was instantly reminded how dangerous it is when this bad boy appeared for a very keen price (complete with a Hiscox Liteflite hard case) and on the right side of England for my purposes.  I decided to carpe that diem.  9 hour round trip, but it was definitely worth it.  Basically unusued, the only issues were that it was a bit dusty in places, and there was some goop on the headstock where a clearly disintegrating stand had been cradling.  Managed to get that cleaned off - it hadn't stained the finish, yay!  Gave it a fret polish and oiled the fingerboard and gave it a good old setup.

So, how is the "Stingray killer"?  Good, as far as I can tell in headphones.  My favourite finish for these basses would be Soda Blue, but this natural one is growing on me in its elegant simplicity, and the black pickguard suits it very well.

But that's it!  No more!  I will be striving to make 2026 a fallow year in the gear acquisition stakes, so I guess I was getting one final hit in before the lockdown.

FYI - no Stingrays were harmed in the making of this.

Merry Christmas to me (and everyone else!)

No, I have a harem to manage. Strict rotation is the only way to do this. I accelerate the rotation by playing two different basses at the (two set) gigs.

The only sentimentality I have is that Mrs. Neepheid bought me my Reverend Triad, so it would be last to go in a fire sale type situation.

Our work here is done.

2 minutes ago, bassbora said:

Very curious about the XS-1 pedal.  Mostly to just change key, up or down 1-2 steps and nothing more than that.  How are you guys finding it?  I does it cope in a band setting?

Yes, it's the best performing pitch shifter I have ever tried, and I've owned 3.  It copes admirably in a band setting - I use mine all the time.  Not only for those requests to play a song in a different key, but I also use the octave up blended in with overdrive for a bit of "fake guitar" action sometimes.  I've pushed it as low as -3 live and it's been decent, eminently useable.

4 minutes ago, krispn said:

Been looking at the BBP34 too as a ‘nice PJ’ but just wondering if it’s gas or if I should really check one out. That or a 434

If you're just dipping your toe in, get a 434!  At least you'll find out if you like the looks and the general ergonomics.

I'm not a trained fire fighter - I'm out.

Why are people getting het up about this?  As far as I understand it, the only quibble here is whether or not the aesthetic quality of the top of this bass is a fault or not.  Some say yay, some say nay.  Ultimately the vendor's covered by the Ts and Cs, they don't consider it to be a fault, so honestly I'd take the offer of getting it picked up for £25 and move on.  Yes, they've been a bit rum and heavy handed about it - it's been escalated and a compromise offered.

Whether or not I would have allowed it out of my factory is irrelevant (but in case you're wondering - I wouldn't).

It would bug me. I mean my Epiphone Jack Casady's flamed top isn't book matched, but at least each half isn't wildly different from the other...

Do these retailers think we don't talk to each other? Attitude's a bit rum, I reckon.

1 hour ago, Jack said:

Pleased to see I'm not the only one, although it still feels like cheating. Just for three songs in our set, what about you?

I don't think it's cheating at all - better living through technology as far as I'm concerned.  6 or 7 songs get shifted +/- 3 semitones.  I also use it for octave up blend for a bit of "fake guitar" action (pitch shift up + overdrive) on a couple of songs because we've only got a single guitarist.

1 hour ago, Rich said:

It's the same day as the South West Bash 😢😭

That seems a little imprudent?

Bit far away for me, but you never know!  Best of luck with it!

Alas, I have a gig the night before, so no Scottish invasion this time, sorry!

1 minute ago, Owen said:

I have had one of these for nearly 30 years. I would not be without it. When it eventually breaks I will buy another. Unless I go first. Mine is a Ruxxac. 

Are we taking bets?  A tenner on the sack trolley!