JPJ

This is something I have been pondering. I think I will need to either cover the existing side dots (mid-fret position), add new ‘on the lines’ markers or if my wood working skills are up to it, do those nifty fret end markers like those shown below. I’ve got a few different veneers inbound from David Dyke’s and once I’ve received these and ripped the frets out, I’ll decide.

I’ve done a couple and it’s a bit of a nightmare. My ‘technique’ is to stick the mirror acrylic to my template using double sided tape. I then cut to about 10mm oversize with a jigsaw on the highest speed setting cutting really slowly. Then I finish to the template using a 60 degree chamfer cutter in my palm router, again on the highest speed setting. With one sheet of Perspex the double sided tape actually pulled the mirror finish off the back so check on a small test area first (in that case I covered the back with wide masking tape and then used the double sided tape onto that). Other thing to watch out for is the swarf is very ‘sharp’ so leave the protective film on the front as well otherwise you’ll end up with loads of scratches (again, lesson learned the hard way). Of the two I have made, I have also made at least four rejects.

So, the last board layout lasted a week, and the Finally is now relocated to the end of my chain. Used it at my gig on Saturday and loved it, as did the sound guy.

Billy Bootleggers in the popular Ouseburn area of Newcastle upon Tyne. Great live music bar with in-house PA & engineer (who actually knows what he’s doing). The bar has three bands on each Saturday, and we had our favourite 5pm kick-off slot. Lots of folk in for the music supplemented by passing trade and with dry warm weather, there was plenty of passing trade. We played well and the bonus of being home by 8pm makes it doubly pleasing. Oh and first gig with the Finally v2 ‘with bass in mind’ and I couldn’t be happier with how this sounds, now at the end of my chain (arguably where it’s supposed to be) it provided a lovely fat warm input to my amp, and the engineer said it’s the best D.I. he’s heard in a while. Oh and we got paid too 😎

So left home alone, and with a gig tomorrow night, I pulled the gig rig in tonight and fired everything up. And then I had a thought, maybe I should try the Finally at the end of my board as intended and guess what, yes I liked it. In fact, I really liked it, so out came the the wiring kit and I rewired my board for a second time this week. So this is the current state and what I hope is the final state. I’m really happy with how this is sounding across fretted, fretless, and EUB.

I’m confident that this is within the range of my skills otherwise it would be added to the great David Wilson’s waiting list.

To quote the late John F Kennedy “we do not do these things because they are easy” 😂

It certainly will - but I love a good challenge 😂

The neck is bound and I don’t really want to cut the slots if I can avoid it.

Thanks Andy 🙏

My modest little board designed to cover my three needs, EUB, fretless bass, fretted bass. That Sushiboxfx Finally v2 ‘with bass in mind’ is just such a thing of beauty 😍

That Sennheiser is a lovely mic and works really well with female vocals, but it’s a bit of a beast to get used to after the venerable SM58. I thought it was me until a recent multi-band event mixed by a very competent and locally recognised sound engineer, who like me, struggled to EQ it to avoid feedback from the monitors. Once you’ve tamed it, its a really good mic, nice and clear, but don’t on any account plug another mic into that channel - the comparison is shocking 😂

Quick question to anyone who has done a defret - what thickness veneer to fill the slots?

As promised, updated board pic. Been doing a little recording work tonight, and the Fender Tony Franklin P was just singing 😍

Thanks Gaz 🙏

I use a venerable old pair of iColor 3 halogen stage lights, running a DMX-based sound-to-light program from the matching mini-lighting controller. The iColors are coming up to the end (if not passed) the end of their working life, and I’ve had to replace not only the lamps but the lamp holders on several of the lens. What’s everyone using for a simple stage wash similar to the old iColor’s?

As a few others have already said, this is exactly what the SansAmp pedal range is designed to do. I’ve had a very mixed experience with Ampeg. My local rehearsal studio has the SVTIII amps through either the 8x10, 6x10, or 4x10 cabs. I cannot for the life of me get a decent sound out of those amps and instead take my own combo to rehearsals. By contrast, using one of their all valve models through either the 8x10 or 6x10 cab and its tonal heaven with everything set pretty much flat.

This little beauty has made its way on to my board and into my heart.

If any Basschatter’s are at a loose end on Saturday 29th in the Newcastle upon Tyne area, I’ll be making an exhibition of myself fumbling around on fretless and EUB at the fabulous Billy Bootleggers in the Ouseburn Delta kicking off at 5pm. Female fronted Americana/Country type thing. Come say hi, I don’t bite (unless you ask me nicely) 😎

Hi John, I would still fill the fret slots but then veneer over the whole board

That was my plan but whilst shopping for Brazilian rosewood veneer I came up with the brain wave of veneering the whole fretboard 😂

Nice solution, I've just bought one of these from Thomann that does the same job with my TC BG250 208 combo all for the princely sum of £15.90. It folds flat but I doubt it would fit in a cable bag. https://www.thomann.de/gb/ortega_oas_fl_amp_stand.htm

Just re-read through this thread and I saw mention of kickback stands. I’ve got some ‘acoustic’ gigs coming up where I will be using my NS EUB through my Fane Sovereign equipped TC BG250 208 combo, and knowing the gigs are a bit limited for space, I bought this little stand off Thomann for the princely sum of £16. https://www.thomann.de/gb/ortega_oas_fl_amp_stand.htm Coincidently, the angle of the stand matches the angle of the leg of my IKEA desk. This pleases my CDO (OCD but in the correct order 😉)