MichaelDean

I've got a real hankering for a Les Paul type guitar. I'd get a Harley Benton LP, some strings and a gigbag.

I did my neck in at a stag do while surfing a few years ago. Somehow hit a wave wrong. If I sleep on it wrong it becomes quite immobile the next day, I can't turn my head, and heavy things become a struggle. We also reached a breaking point with our daughter earlier this year. The only way I could get her to go to sleep was to hold her and pace the room. Might be 10 minutes, might be 50. It wasn't great for my back and it has gone once, just as I was dropping her at nursery one day. I was doubled over and barely made it home. We had to sleep train her as it wasn't sustainable anymore, which actually worked out well for everyone. Now we can just put her down to bed and she goes to sleep. I do have a sack truck for moving my gear long distances though. I bought it just before COVID, so it hasn't seen a great deal of use, but it does make taking stuff further much easier. There probably will be a time when I need to go full lightweight, or perhaps more modular maybe. I'm thankfully not there yet though!

Just spotted this on Andertons' website. Thought it might interest some people here... Doesn't look too shabby! https://www.andertons.co.uk/brands/soloking/soloking-mj1-classic-4-string-bass-in-lake-placid-blue

Wot @tauzero said. The idea behind it is that you don't send the reverb/delay straight into the input and distort those signals. It's probably more useful for guitarists than bassists. They (generally) stay clearer if they only get processed by the power amp.

It should be the same. They don't shape the neck and then roast it. It is roasted as a neck blank (or maybe even earlier in the process) before shaping.

How remiss of me - I haven't posted my 76 Mustang here! Refinished (not that well) by me, re-fretted with SS frets, tuners swapped out for Hipshot ultralights, KiOgon loom, strap from CatBurrito. It has toured the UK and Japan with me.

They'll be 18mm, the same as a Mustang.

I had an early PF500 and it never let me down. Didn't feel particularly light to me though. Might be because I had it mounted to the fliptop 210 cabinet though. Having played through a bunch of amps at the South West Bass Bash into one of @stevie's LFSys cabs, I found the Gnome was quite bright, the TC BAM was more neutral and the Elf was a bit darker and more scooped. I think of those, I'd have gone for the BAM. I could quite easily get an approximation of the other two from the TC. I'd like to try the BQ and BH ranges as well to see what they're like. I've heard the MiniMax MK2 has the fan noise sorted... This seems like a good deal. Do you need an effects loop? Have you ever used one on an amp you've had? I know I'm guilty of having coveted that option, but I've still never tried the 4 cable method with my bass. Only my skinny stringer.

Here's mine. I got into Wolf Alice a fair amount this year. There is a couple of Wet Leg songs in the top songs. I'm surprised that Taylor Swift was that high up. Not upset, but surprised.

Wow. That's stunning.

They do also sell them brank spanking new: https://www.fender.com/en-GB/parts/necks/roasted-maple-vintera-50s-precision-bass-neck-20-vintage-frets-7.25-c-shape/0999612920.html (out of stock here, but just a reference) In stock and UK based here: https://www.giggear.co.uk/guitars/guitar-parts-spares/guitar-bodies-and-necks/precision-bass-necks/fender-roasted-maple-vintera-50s-precision-bass-neck.htm

Nice! I've got my eye on an Antiquity Les Paul copy. Seemed really nice when I played it in store. What sort of doesn't react well? Can you be a bit more specific? Just in case... Your finger should be just behind the fret not on it, so the fret is doing the work.

So, you're an international touring musician but you're not earning megabucks, nor do you have an endorsement where they'll send you stuff wherever. The band you're touring with don't use IEMs and you want to set up a small board (say the ANT, a Helix Stomp and a couple of other pedals) that you can fly with and use whatever cab is available. Enter the ANT. If it's on your pedalboard, and you've integrated the kettle lead with your pedal power, that's one thing to set up. Plug in speakon to the cab, power, jack. Job done. Controls are all with you, so you can fiddle from a distance.

Even if, 10/20/30 years down the line, you do need a refret, that's fine. They're expendable parts designed to wear down and need eventual replacement.

Thanks for the tips @Andyjr1515, cocktail sticks worked a treat. Shame the rest of the process was such a faff! Perhaps not helped by my super glue possibly being a bit old... After a LOT of trial and error, I had to make the holes pretty deep, so that the carbon fibre maintained integrity. Glue that in, then cut the stainless steel to fit and glue that in. Let it dry and then file it down. Sounds simple written! Was not easy! Were I to do it again, I'd get carbon fibre with a thicker wall. This is just 0.5mm. 1mm would have made quite a difference I think. Despite the difficulty, I do think it looks good. There is still a fair amount of tidying up that needs to be done.

Sometimes I think perhaps we've gotten a bit too clever. Need bringing down a peg or two!

I came across this design for a bass earlier. I know you want to make your own design, but thought it might help inform decisions as you go forward! https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/gadget/phi-bass-all-3d-printed-electric-4-string-bass-guitar?fbclid=IwAR1ApeHSJw09xML_RmGAu76oCnJqBqLQXwjbrRK0XzrHSTgMsh8vi9nCKUw

Not had much progress recently. I've just made the holes for the side dots. Hopeing to get them in tomorrow afternoon, and then do a lot of sanding. There are still some bulges in the neck (as you can see below!). Also, if anyone has tips for cutting tiny bits of carbon fibre tubing, I'd be very grateful. My fret nippers can cut the stainless steel rod into smaller bits - that's easy enough. The carbon fibre tube flakes out with serrated blades, flattens with nippers, but is too tough for a stanley knife. I'm wondering about maybe getting my dremel (equivalent) out with a cutting disc maybe? Did not think about this when I chose carbon fibre! It was just an easily available black tube with the right spec!

I see it all the time in the Bristol store.

It is mad isn't it. I think if you pulled up the website for a comparison, they'd probably honour that price. They're probably relying on either people just paying the price on the label, or having someone haggle and then feel like they got a great deal, when it is actually just the price on the website.

Wot @Woodinblack said. Garage Band is mac specific. If you're looking for a low cost DAW, I'd suggest Reaper. It's really good. You get a free trial for 60 days, but you can also just keep on clicking the "Keep evaluating" button indefinitley after those 60 days without any reduced functionality (ask me how I know 😉). https://www.reaper.fm/index.php

I think Ashdown put an automatic mute on the output when there isn't something connected to the input - I'm assuming using a TRS jack socket. I wonder if that has possibly failed? I'd send it off to Ashdown for a diagnoses though. They got me sorted really quickly when my ABM-600 wasn't behaving properly.

The first Aria I came across was in the music department at my school in the late 90s. I think it was a cat. The roundwound strings were horribly old (I think they were rusty too), and it was played through a 90s Fender bass amp which wasn't great itself. It wasn't until I joined Basschat that I learnt that they weren't all terrible. I think that one probably just had the bad luck of being abused by kids and living in a static caravan sort of a thing. I wonder if a lot of people were also introduced to them like that. Might have reduced the brand reputation?

I want that to be some sort of bakery/florist combo.

I really like the EQ on my ABM 600. I play in a loud metal band and I cut through nicely. I tend to have the valve drive on to warm it up a bit, but I wouldn't say it would for sure replace an always on overdrive.