neepheid

September 5th at Krakatoa...

@Ian Somerville bought a G&L Tribute SB-2 from me. Great guy to deal with, good comms, prompt payment, kept in touch throughout. Smoothest of the smooth transactions. Deal with confidence.

Let's pimp my originals band - The Inevitable Teaspoons We're a five piece band based in NE Scotland (Aberdeen city and shire). We have no guitarist - we're not anti-guitar, that's just how it ended up. Instrumentation is drums, bass, keys, trombone, sax. We formed when some of us quit another band but still wanted to play with most of the rest of the old band. Frankly I don't know what pithy 1 or 2 word genre name can be applied to us. Not trying to be obtuse, but I genuinely die a little inside when I get asked "what kind of music do you play?" Umm, spoony music? Sorta ska, but played kinda straight like rock? I dunno. We gig very infrequently because we're shy and lazy. We usually play the places in Aberdeen which do originals bands - Cafe Drummond and Krakatoa, but have gigged further afield before - I think we've played in Perth a couple of times. Right now we're doing some DIY recording in our rehearsal room, hoping to put an album together this year. We have one EP and one album already released. Here's a very old video.

Gave it a proper razz in a band context last night - it's gud. Plenty poke, and the tone control being half way thing still applies - up at 10 it's a bit too much, and to be honest it's not quite the right frequencies to be cutting through, but that might have been because I was going through an ancient Behringer 4x10 with a knackered tweeter. Also, new knobs arrived, because it's worth it. Not worried a jot that they're gold tops, it's a wonky bass, innit?

Let the chips fall where they may. Also avoid Oct 11-12th - that's the SW bash...

We use Emubands, same reason as CD Baby - one off fee per release.

Yes. Can only lay my hands on a picture of the guitar counterpart but it was the same idea.

I did. I wasn't sure if that was for the whole thread or just the post. I'll keep an eye on that in future. Surprised it's taken me this long to notice it if it's a known foible.

Cheers, I'll keep that in my back pocket, if organic* progress halts. *minimum effort

Not my choice, it was already mounted on the body when I bought it. Easily sorted though...

Yes, awesome, thanks. I tried twice to edit the post, delete the pics, but it wasn't having it!

I made a post and after I submitted it, pictures from the previous post were appended to the end (from the picture of the manky cloth onwards). I can't delete them - I edit the post, delete them from the post then submit and they just keep coming back. https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/514065-it-came-from-the-black-lagoon/#findComment-5507716 Some wee forum bug perhaps? Can someone please tidy them off the post for me, I can't seem to do it!

I don't know what's going on - those repeated pictures just appeared, and I can't delete them out of the post, they just keep coming back. EDIT: cheers to @Woodinblack for tidying up my mess!

So I had a rummage in the parts collection and found enough stuff to do a proof of concept at least - some tuners, a BBOT, pickups (the stock one from a Squier Jag H, and a rando J pickup). Found the Hipshot string retainer I had pilfered off of it. Offered it up and it seemed to fit. Even the tuner bushings gripped the holes - needed persuasion to sit flush which amazed me! But there's a more existential threat to the whole thing - the neck's in a bit of a back bow after years in the shed with no strings on and the truss rod not loosened - oops! And it's not simply a case of replacing the neck, because the bugger I bought the original body and neck from back in 2007 had glued the neck in! So I decided to just get the tuners and bridge installed, then string it up and hope that prolonged string tension with the truss rod backed off completely will pull it into a forward bow once more. So that's what I did (and don't talk to me about the missing screws - I snapped three drill bits during all this and two of them are stuck in the bass, FFS! Anyway, that's a problem for another day. I strung it up and at first, horrible fret buzz on all strings from frets 1-4, then comes good from 5 onwards. Sad sauce. BUT It appears to be recovering - it seemed to be a little better as the evening progressed last night, and it's better still this morning when I checked it before heading to work. So that's it had about 12 hours of unopposed string tension. Hopefully it will have improved further when I get home from work this evening. I don't wanna jinx it, but it appears that the bass wants to live....

In 2007, I put together a bass, a fancy bitsa mostly - I bought the body and neck off ebay (not your typical F style bits - a body with a fancy top which might have been home made and a F like neck but with a somewhat different headstock shape), but did some modifications myself (through body stringing, an extra hole for a mini switch) and refinished it myself in shellac (Ronseal's finest "French polish") and was quite pleased with the result. It predates my involvement here, so it was never documented, but it looked like this: But being a daftie at the time (heh, what's changed?) - it eventually got sidelined, then raided for parts, and eventually abandonded in the shed, where it sat, unloved for many, many years. The only thing positive you could say is that it was out of the rain and wind. Apart from that, it was in a damp, unheated shed for at least 7 years. A conversation I got involved in about "why don't (electric) instrument makers use French polish as a finish?" reminded me of this beast. For shame. What a waste. I retrieved it from the shed and took it in the house... Yeah, a bit manky. I have no idea what that discoloration of the wood next to metal parts is, it doesn't wipe off, it's in the finish or the wood. Oh well, if it doesn't wipe off, it can't harm me, or something. Quite a handsome top on it, and no veneer either, nice thick top... Eww, and that was just the front upper bout. But it was clean. Needs a polish, but there's no point in doing that unless the thing works...

Epiphone and Squier until I die! I've never felt a need to put a bass's big brother's clothes on and steal his ID to try and go to the pub or something. I was going somewhere with that metaphor, then I got lost. My basses are what they are, what they were, and what they'll always be. The only time I've replaced a decal it's either been like for like (when I restored an old Hagstrom), or gone down the comedy route (put "Fecker Imprecision Bass" on a bitsa). Apart from that, it is what it is.

Just as a retort: I understand a bass with more than four strings, I just don't care about them, or personally see a need for them in my line of bass work. I also think they look a bit wrong and for all the finger position choices they provide, on the other hand they also limit my choices in basses I can buy/play - sticking with four strings my cup runneth over. Many ways to look at it. My viewpoint is only one in a sea of opinions.

Just want to echo what's already been said - I had a fun afternoon and it was great to see you all!

Damn, is it that obvious?

Looking forward to seeing you in a few hours at the Union Square Brewdog. A thought occurred that not everyone knows each other, so some kind of identifier/marker for the table might be an idea. Therefore, this extremely quickly cobbled together homemade thing will be on our table - look for the clef! See you soon!

Indeed, just a wee bump to say see you Sunday! FYI, Brewdog is card only, nae cash. Hope that's OK.

As long as I've not got a gig on... #1 - Paul @NancyJohnson #2 - Paul #2 @prowla #3 - Martin @Merton #4 - @Wombat #5 - Andy @Wolverinebass #6 - Stevie @stevie #7 - Lozz @Lozz196 #8 - Matt @neepheid

I totally get what you're saying second hand vs. new. I wasn't suggesting you had anything against the seller - just trying to put your mind at ease, that's all. But if you'd like another data point for your investigations - my BH250 was also second hand. Probably doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, but just giving you all the info I can think of which is relevant. The BQ250 does also look like a great shout, but it's always a compromise. I did consider it when I was looking for a backup amp. With the BQ you get a more controllable preamp gain (being a pot rather than a switch between two levels on the BH), a clip light, an extra band on the EQ and built in compression (which, arguably you can have on the BH if you load up the Spectracomp toneprint). But you lose the built in tuner, the mute switch and the Toneprint of the BH. For me, the features found in the BH were more important to me than those found on the BQ Believe me, I was sceptical about the simple passive/active gain switch vs. a knob - but it works well for me in practice so I guess the two levels the switch works at were well chosen. Both amps are probably great.

BH250 user here - I enjoy having my little beastie very much. I use it as my backup at gigs, at rehearsals, for practice at home where it especially excels - so convenient with 3.5mm jacks for line in and headphones, built in tuner, and Toneprint (worth it for the Spectracomp alone). And a blessed mute switch! That one for sale in the marketplace may be scuffed, but the price is commensurate with the condition IMO. I'd have bought it in a heartbeat if I didn't already own one! I can't speak for previous owners, but the current owner/seller is a tip top chap who I know personally and vouch for, if that helps.

Date depending, of course, but I'd be interested, aye.