bass_dinger

I have an audio interface - a Yamaha AG03, which looks like a mixer. No midi ports on the device, so I need either a specialist box such as the Sub Zero 4-way interface (https://www.gear4music.com/Recording-and-Computers/SubZero-4x4-MIDI-Interface/2KOA or the cable recommended by @BigRedXand @moley6knipe, which allows just one keyboard (which is all that I have). The cable looks the best option for my needs - but I am planning to upgrade my PC, to run Windows 11, and have more USB connections, and the ability to run two monitors. So, the upgrade may change things.

I want to connect my 5-pin DIN Midi piano to Cubase, which is installed on my PC. I am assuming that I need an add-on box to the PC, plugged into a USB socket. I want to be able to play something (a bass line) on the midi piano, and have the notes appear in Cubase, so that I can print out the sheet music for playing from. Can anyone advise?

AKG K240 headphones. Bought a set when I was 18. After 38 years they were broken, so I got another set. They work, they are comfortable, they are affordable (for me). @neepheid is right about the Boss TU-2 tuner (which also works as a mute switch and a 9v power distribution hub too). Solid, accurate enough for me, and reliable. Oooh - and my straplocks too. Solid construction, easy to operate, don't seem to wear out. I still have a 30 year old set on my Lowden, and every new bass guitar gets a set too, even if it means asking on Basschat for the older version. And Dunlop nylon .73 plectrums, for guitar.

My wife bought a new kitchen 19 years ago. It's already worn out, so, she's not getting another.

That is what I thought in 2023, until two of my "unicorn" basses came up in the same Facebook advert....

Just bought a new power supply for my Kurzweil SP76 piano. The old one is playing up, failing to make consistent contact with the power input socket. It works, but not reliably. So, £4.94 worth of preemptive repair/ replacement (rather than new gear). "Breakages. If something breaks through no unusual intervention of your own, and is unable to be repaired, you may replace it."

I want you back, by the Jackson 5. It was played on the bass guitar, by a saxophonist. Here, all the dots for you Take the same chord sequence and bassline, transpose it down a semitone, and it fits with Taylor Swift "we are never getting back together ". Two pop songs for the price of one! There used to be a mashup of both songs on YouTube, but no longer. This is the closest that I can find -

I agree with @Shockwave and @neepheid. It is a 2024 order with a 2024 estimated arrival date. However, circumstances mean that you may need to re-do the order - but that is not your fault, nor was it your intention to buy that item in 2025. You shouldn't be penalised for not receiving the item in-year, and having to re-order the item.

I must have seen that video previously - because it is the reason why I went for an edge-lined fretless. The edge-lines allow me to get into the right region, and my ears (ha ha) will allow me to make adjustments from an even-tempered scale.

So, I had a bass refinished last year, but when I received it, it was a bass in bits, and the body was without a finish (it had been fully removed by the previous owner), so the refinish was judged by Challenge Jurors to be a repair. There was some debate about whether my refinish was a frivolous and unnecessary vanity project, or necessary to bring it back to factory originality. However, the jury concluded that it was allowed. So, precedent seems to allow a refinish where it is a genuine repair.

A major purchase, you say? Is it a new set of cello strings?

There's always ebay.... You could go online while the singer is setting up the PA, and spot an original stack-knob Jazz bass in Burgundy Mist with a Buy It Now of 50 quid! Then, you would buy it, and be out, and everyone would laugh at you! 5 hours to go.

Spot On! For me, the biggest win of this Challenge is realising that a new effects pedal, or amplifier or bass won't necessarily help me play better. I am more focused on improving my skills, thanks to these yearly challenges. In which case, why do I have five bass guitars, but only two hands...

I am in - a too-small house ensures that I won't buy anything more, oh yes.

I have enjoyed @neepheid's custody of this year's Challenge - the right mix of mercy and scholarly application of the rules. Thank you for keeping the flame (other maple finishes are also available....) Robert

You are Spinal Tap, and I claim my £5.

Looking forward to the Future

Sorry. I made a joke so poor, that I now need to explain it. People will sometimes comment on a bass for sale, saying that it's lovely, but has the wrong number of strings for them, and wishing the vendor all the best with the sale. I took it to the next level - I saw a headstock for sale from a 4-string (in essence, a lump of wood with 4 holes in it), and wished that it was a lump of wood from a 5 string. I'll get my coat....

Four Candles was enough for Ronnie...

I'd be all over that if it was a five. GLWTS!

Or, indeed, if only Spear And Jackson made a bass guitar.... The body seems very short, and the bridge is commensurately closer to the neck. So I wonder if the 12th fret is in the right place. Actually, on reflection, the 12th fret, and the bass, are both in exactly the right place - in Norfolk, 200 miles away from me.

I am planning on using them - and wanted them to also install the base, too. I shall carry out a little more research.

And he hadn't felt enough, either.

No, I think that that his handle still works for a member who used to play bass but now plays guitar. Bas Sadder 60.... But, in seriousness, I need to visit there more often.

I refer the defendant to the case of bass_dinger v Basschat.co.uk This case seemed to establish that a refinish that was a repair, counted as any other repair, and would not result in a Gear Abstinence breach. However, it will be for you to show that it was a repair...