bass_dinger

I am indeed involved again, playing, albeit less often. However, I am not as emotionally involved... Careful observation of my work station will reveal the presence of an electric piano, an instrument that is not a bass. This denotes that I am exploring other options - certainly, I see that playing bass at church is not the peak of musicality (unless one happens to be Handel, or Bach....).

It is a course that is easily self-taught. All you need is lots of people that annoy you, and a lifetime to learn the difference between not minding (a good thing) and not caring (not so good). As for the setup, it was good for using up my daughter's old university desk (white bit at the bottom) and some wood-veneered mdf panels that were part of her bedroom furniture. Self-made by me, but now no longer needed... I could have cried, but instead, I smiled and nodded.

This seems to be my last substantive post in this thread - a contrast to the time when I was either moaning about the set up, and, before that, sharing how well the band was set up. Since being asked to stand down after complaining that the chord charts were late, the situation is very different. The band has not had a mid week rehearsal since about May, and chord charts are not available until the morning of the service. As for me, I have learnt to keep my mouth shut, and smile and nod. It is rather refreshing! The new setup seems to work well enough. In other news, I have a new home practice setup

And, at that moment, @Woodinblack invented the ukulele!

In other news... "Pianists: are 88 notes too many?", and an organist confirms that they really do use all the notes on all 5 manuals and the 25-note foot control too. Our bluegrass correspondent will be asking mandolin players if they ever use the frets on the funny little extension on an F Style mandolin. And why do folk guitars have frets above the 5th, when many players do not use them? But first, primary school recorder players- is one note too many? ...... The more I think about this, the more I realise that many instruments have unused notes!

@Happypants I am planning to go to the South East Bass Bash in November, and will be taking 5 basses. I live in Swanley, with my dad's house in Orpington. Might that be a way of putting the flight case back into circulation?

When listen to James Jamerson playing For Once In My Life, I am astounded at how much music he gets out of just 4 strings. Thus, 4 strings are enough. I play a 5 string bass because that was what I was offered. Also, I previously played guitar, and wanted my new instrument to be something different to whatever I had played before. I wanted to force myself to think differently. That said, the B string was too poor to encourage me to play across the neck, and I did not initially grasp the concept that B string 6th fret gave me an F, as an alternative to the E string 1st fret. 18 years later, I am now using the B string to play across the neck, and have a new bass with a righteous low B (and C and D). However, I still can't play like James Jamerson!

I have a set of SIT strings on my bass, not sure which type, but I rather like them. Smoother feel and sound than the Dunlop steels that I have previously used, and a rich deep sound

This is a good point. I have been learning classic basslines on my 5 string, and I have so far only found two songs that need a note below E. Waterloo by ABBA, and Everybody wants to rule the world. Thus, I have the fifth low string but all the songs I play don't require it. I would have to shift position away from the original artist's playing to be able to use the low B string. Some songs lend themselves to that - the outro to You're my First my last.... requires a 12 fret leap on a 4 string, but a 7 fret jump on a 5. I have only ever played 5 string basses, and only in the past 2 years have I had the skills to play across the neck. 5 string is hard, for me, in a 4 string world.

I had previously used a credit card to resolve a fret issue, but @Baloney Balderdash's solution feels more satisfying. I shall try it, next time

YouTube recommended this to me - a channel full of transcriptions of walking basslines. When Oscar Petersons C blues jam is his 55th video, one knows that this is a serious source of information.

Mandolin and mandocello- all that folky goodness, and not a single beard in sight!

My mate Roger made me a mix tape of Shalamar, which spent a lot of time in my rudimentary hifi.

I wanted to buy Freddies vacuum cleaner from I Want To Break Free. Present for the wife...

Here, a ukulele "threadless bass". It made me smile.

I found that matchsticks were too soft. I now use toothpicks, and glue them in - then drill the hole for the screw. We have had Tonewood Guitar Picks. Next, Tonewood Tooth Picks.

I was hoping to see your Harley Benton 5 string fretless - it was the one instrument that I wanted to see last year! I will nevertheless be interested to try the ibanez short scale - and hope that you will enjoy the decidedly long-scale acoustic 5 string bass that I will bring along!

I asked about that blue colour and was told the following: "It was a color I mixed up using blue aniline dye mixed into clear nitro to make the color"

Aha! I was late last year, but this year I will aim to arrive on time. I will bring: 1. 1999 Washburn XB500 (twin humbuckers) 2. 1994 Washburn XB500 (twin single coils) 3. A Washburn XB925 in zebrawood (twin Bartolinis) 4 Washburn XB925 in bits.... (twin Bartolinis) 5. Boulder Creek 5 string (likely to be for sale) 6. SWR Workingmans 12 with the stepped front. Hmmm... I will need a bigger car! @Hamster - are we allowed to bring stuff to sell?

Had I asked him 4 months ago, he actually had a suitable neck in stock, that had been hanging around, unsold.

I am told that this was a custom order, and not a production model. If we have a serial number, we may be able to find more information - who ordered it, when, and even why!

@Andyjr1515, that's the same luthier that quoted the same price for fixing the truss rod on my green XB500, that you fixed for me.

@AndyTravis I like the idea of putting some colour on the body - more than putting some Danish oil on it, which was my original plan. As for the neck, I have three options. 1. Buy a twin truss rod, get a friend to route the wooden centre block out, and rebuild the neck myself. 2. Get a local luthier to build a neck for me , at around £1,000. 3. Go to the person in America who designed the XB series. He still makes custom basses, and has the exact specifications of the original necks. He offered to make a new neck for $400. I was concerned about CITES certification if I had a rosewood fretboard. A maple fretboard may not cause an issue, however. I was also wondering whether to make this one into a fretless bass.

@AndyTravis, is this your bass, or an image that you found? Washburn offered a "denim blue" on a single humbucker pickup XB900, but I am guessing that this is a custom colour. Actually, custom everything! The control layout seems to be standard, however. Active/ passive mini toggle, volume, bass, treble and midrange, and a panpot?

Found the original seller's snaps. And I see that there is a layer of a third wood between the body and zebrawood cap.