bass_dinger

On 31/03/2025 at 20:13, haruki said:

 

If your anywhere  near London a trip to the London Guitar Studio is worth it (I assume its still open)

An advertisement for the London Guitar Studio popped up on my YouTube feed yesterday, so, they seem to be active.

On 02/05/2025 at 16:31, The Guitar Weasel said:

These other basses I looked at were all fixer-uppers, as I am fairly handy - owning a guitar pickup company helps .

On 10/05/2025 at 08:40, Hellzero said:

I think @The Guitar Weasel is some kind of a luthier. 😉

You are right - and I am embarrassed!

I once tried to clean my 120 year old violin with surgical spirit, which made the finish go all sticky.  When I mentioned surgical spirit to my tame violin repairer, he knew exactly what the problem would be. From that day, I decided that I would leave this work to the experts (like @The Guitar Weasel)

Just... "wow"!  What a fantastic setup. Thank you for sharing that. 

There was a time when I wanted a bass pedal board, and to fit some reed switches and a midi output unit.  However, I have neither the space, nor the talent, to take such a project forward. 

An update  - I am working through Grade 2, and really struggling with this new level of playing.  It feels so much more difficult than before.

However, the reality is that I simply need to apply myself - to practice daily, and with more focus. 

• With the bass, I play what I know, in the same 4 or 5 keys, and probably haven't improved in 5 years.

• With the piano, I am always playing beyond my skill level - two-handed parallel scales that I can't play with the right fingering; pieces with independent left and right hands; music full of accidentals; music with written timings (not by feel or ear).

So, that is why I am struggling with piano. 

Incidentally, I have been practicing piano with a metronome,  and when I mentioned it to my teacher, he said that I didn't want to be doing that "because it's difficult ".  Surely a metronome is a beneficial discipline, and something that I should aspire to?

Thank you, @BassTractor. Other Internet searches suggested the same issue, so I need to pluck up the courage to take the piano apart, and look at the pad beneath the A-flat.

More likely, I will contact a repairer that I know, and ask him to look at it - I am not a bold or confident fixer of things. 

I have a Kurzweil SP76 piano.  It is touch-sensitive (or rather, velocity sensitive).  The harder I hit the key, the louder it is.

However, since this morning, the A-flat below middle C is always at maximum volume.  Any ideas on what the problem might be, and how to fix it?

On 08/05/2025 at 16:12, The Guitar Weasel said:

Suggestions on a postcard please ... 

I looked up suggestions on Google.  Artificial Intelligence told me to use a heat gun, or a sander.  I think that AI confused "double bass" with "floorboards ". Easily done. 

My money would be on talking to a violin maker, or a luthier, to ask how they would remove a finish. 

I can't get over how short the neck is, relative to the size of the body and the headstock (peg box?).

I see, from the photo of the intact bass, that the fingerboard is where the length is.

I was also amazed at the price of the nut - just £8!

Oooh, I know what it is!

Great, Chorus, and Swell to the Pedals, a button for turning the page on your iPad.

To follow, two more keyboards up top, and a full 25 note pedalboard down below?

On 23/04/2025 at 07:38, losting said:

If it's bass, will I improve quickly if I watch more videos..

No. 

On 23/04/2025 at 07:38, losting said:

and practice?

Yes.

I watch educational videos with good intentions, but find myself distracted by those same videos. 

Get a teacher, if you can - a good teacher is better than a video, I would say.

I would suggest a ukulele. 

It looks like a guitar, but has fewer strings to worry about.

They are taught at school too, I am told.

Quality of the cheaper instruments vary, so, try before you buy.

16 hours ago, BassTractor said:

I guess Lego are fully aware of how these things work, BUT since they could be bothered to post it, maybe they are indeed willing to put it out - provided most parts are standard and don't require new molds to be made. Maybe every part must be standard; I don't know how expensive molds are these days.
If they do, then I gather only massive sales will see another model later - - though I think the model pool is very tiny indeed.

As to the "homage", I didn't understand your post.
Did you mean the Behringer Model D or a possible future homage that is more its own thing?

 

Apologies, I wasn't clear.  Or, more likely, a bout of sickness has made my waffle even harder to read!

From seeing previous Lego projects, I know that even 10,000 votes does not guarantee that the item will go into production.  And even if it does, Lego designers may refine the model, whether to change the ease of build, or to reduce the piece-count.

My guess is that they probably won't produce new molds for new pieces, but they may reintroduce retired pieces or make existing pieces in new colours.  

I thought that the choice of an analogue synthesiser was a little "out there" and didn't match anything else they had produced (until I remembered the Lego typewriter  - wonderful!)

As for my "homage" quip, that was simply me making a silly joke - "don't buy the Lego version, wait until the inevitable Behringer copy of the same synthesiser".  However, I didn't realise that Behringer had already released a copy - the Behringer Model D (and thus, spoiled my punchline!).

Again, apologies for the lack of clarity.

37 minutes ago, Richard R said:

 

Try again 🙂

 

The motto of all Gear Abstinence members, every year...

On 09/02/2024 at 12:07, Cato said:

It's quite a quirky little place because their USP is not selling the common stuff.

I am looking for an Eastman Mandolin, and Richard's Guitars seems to be the only UK shop with the full range of instruments in stock.  

Four hours on the train, but nevertheless on my "must visit" list.

4 hours ago, Franticsmurf said:

I notice that @King Tut got the 'nice 5 string' and @Geek99 and I were left with the ordinary ones. 😂

In the language of basschat, that means "Buy another five string, but make sure it's a better one next time."

Lego will have a shock when they put it into production, only to find out that all the votes came from poor musicians who are saving up for the real thing, or were bassists, or are waiting for Behringer to create a homage to the original instrument. 

52 minutes ago, Richard R said:

it was an unsolicited gift from a good friend who will sadly never gig this again

Reading between the lines, that sounds like a sad story, even though you were able to benefit from the gift.

Be sure to use it, even in a rehearsal, so that you can send your benefactor a YouTube link, so that you can show your friend that you are using it, and that it sounds wonderful. 

I say to the drummer (always the same guy) "you're slowing down" (or speeding up).

An undeniably pretty instrument - thank you for sharing that. 

How did the event go?  Any videos or photos to share?

@SamIAm - a sad loss. 

She had enough character to leap off of the pages of this forum, and become a real personality - honest, warm, engaging, funny. 

And not embarrassed to be in a ukulele band. 

2 hours ago, BabyBlueSound said:

 

 

Jusging by this thread, it's much harder than it looks! 😁 

Judging by your post, it's much harder than it looks!!

Any photos of your new kit?

On 30/12/2024 at 22:47, Richard R said:

Allowances in both tiers:
 < snip >.
- Genuinely unsolicited presents, which you had no involvement in choosing.  (So going out with your partner to play a bunch of bases, choosing one, and then them buying it for you would be a fail. But we would all applaud and cheer you and your partner and want to know what you got and why!)

10 hours ago, msb said:

An old friend in California now wants to gift me a Chinese replica. I immediately said I would pay for the shipping.

The bass is a gift.  The Shipping fee is not in the signal chain...

Still in, I would say.

4 hours ago, Mickeyboro said:

For those who can’t be arsed?

That'll be me, right enough.

"Gear Up Music.  Because the Post Office is closer than the charity shop...."

5 hours ago, AndyTravis said:

Sell Us Your Guitar are reputable - an ex colleague of mine runs it.

 

Its in Manchester, but they offer a fair enough price…

 

Don't know if that helps 

I shall have a look at this, too.

6 hours ago, Woodwind said:

 

I would take that Covent Garden address with a pinch of salt

Yes - a quick tour of the area with Google Maps showed an anonymous office, rather than a vibrant guitar shop. 

9 hours ago, Mykesbass said:

Not so much just three reviews but they all look like they have been written by a daytime TV funeral insurance advertising copywriter.

Yes, and even the 100 "proper" Google reviews are suspiciously well-written. Capital letters, full stops, sentences.  

I guess the question is "is basschat willing to risk my bass guitars on the company?"

Hmmm. I might contact them tomorrow. 

Has anyone used or had dealings with Gear Up Music?

They are based in London's Covent Garden, and seem to offer an easy way of selling instruments.  

Email, valuation,  post the item to them,  get the money via bank transfer.  I am tempted to try them.  

However, before I do, has anyone tried them?

https://gearupmusic.co.uk/