lownote

I've never owned a pick in my life

Depends what suits you. I use the 0.30mm feeler for the relief. For string heights at the 12th fret I follow Scott Devine's suggestion and sandwich together the following total thicknesses: 2.6mm B, 2.4mm E, 2.00 A, 1.8 D, 1.6 G and unless your fretboard is super clean, about 1.6mm at the C string.

Nice vid, but why's he faff about with picks for string height? Just buy some feeler gauges from a motor factors.

It will hugely increase your sense of ownership if you set it up yourself. Just about the only thing you can't do without special tools is fiddle with the nut slots and you likely won't have to do that. And provided you're not ridiculously cavalier with the truss rod nothing's dangerous to try. I used to take my bass to a tech (charges variable) but he looked at me one day and said ' you know you could do everything I'm doing.' So I do.

Well, they're only £199 new, which is insane for the build quality and sound. So £150 was me having shiny new bike syndrome, but as the bloke bought it new and turned it round to me 'as new'. I guess it's not a bad bargain.

Done

I have had 40 basses in 8 years. I've liked some more than others. A Peavey Grind 5 string, Hohner 6 B Bass, and Fender MM P bass stand out. But my current one is the best, yet I came by it largely by accident. Irked by my blues crowd taking the michael if I played anything wider than a 4 string, but wanting a B string, I thought I'd buy a cheap 4 string and convert it to BEAD stringing. So I went on Fleabay to find a dog I could experiment with - and came across a Revelation P bass. The pictures were very fuzzy and indistinct, but the price was good at £150. So I bought it. Only to find too late it was an unlined fretless. Eeek... Any road, it arrived and it seemed straight out the egg. And the quality was impressive - almost as good as a Sire (sans 18v electrics) for half the price even new. I did the nut slot file thing to cater for bigger strings and strung it with the lower end of a 6 string La Bella nickel rounds set. It played OK, but very deep and thuddy and I couldn't get used to it. So I reverted to EADG stringing with the flatwounds it came with (Picato? dunno). And - possibly critically - I added an old KiOgon loom I had kicking around from another project. Result? Bass heaven. Totally my sound, handles great. and the smaller strings don't seem to mind the slightly widened nut slots. Most of all, with a fair few hours hard practice, I find playing unlined isn't that hard. I think this puppy was meant to be. Who knows, it might actually stay.

Anyone got any tips on how to remove a nut which is embedded in a slot in the fingerboard, as against being simply glued on the end?

Just paid my sub for listing items and had it accepted but the site won't let me post and says I'm expired. EDIT... OK, now seems to work. Ignore me.

The stack pot on my GB75 has gone. Cort's UK website is down, and rumour has it they've changed distributors. Any one got a clean 100k pot that would fit - cash waiting?

Blimey, sounds like you've more experience (and kit) than the rest of us put together lol

See, ain't that strange. I love the clarity of my Markbass. But I owned two Vanderkley cabs and found them muddy and unpleasant. Got rid as soon as I could.

IMHE not all. I bought a TC BC 210 cab once sight unseen and it came from a smoking home. I scrubbed that mf with every detergent I could find in the house and the local auto shop, and whiter spirit, and meths, hosed it with a hose, left it out in the sun and wind for 48 hours, did everything except dumping it in the sea or a Chernobyl, and the tolex (and the smell) just grinned coyly at me and kept right on going. My Barf faced Two10 was fanned with phoenix feathers and coddled and cuddled and peeled off quicker than my first girlfriend.

As you're close to London I'd take myself to the Bass Gallery in Camden, they have a wide range of heads and cabs, and may have a Barefaced demonstrator. As someone mentioned modern cabs vary widely in 'colour'. Your old cabs probably won't have had enough clarity to notice. But a Markbass has a very different sound to a Barefaced One 10 which is different to a Retro Two10 - and doubtless many other makes, all different. I would strongly recommend you listen to your head through various speakers before deciding. And other heads. Again as others have said, if you like old school Markbass heads coupled with their own cabs provide a fantastic sound IMHO. For a sample, here's Michael League at a Markbass masterclass. As to power, weight, cost. A Barefaced One10 weighs 7 Kg and will take 500 watts - but costs up to £400. Also Barefaced Tolex peels. Back to my opening point really.

100 is only good a px amp, IMHO. I started out with a 100 and loved the tone. Then I got in a band playing open air gigs. Suddenly I needed 300w and am currently running on a 500w amp thru a single 8 ohm cab, so I'm getting 350 ish, which is fine. But I couldn't do with less - and this isn't deaf metal or heavy rock.

Hmmm, not for me. They were my first port of call post-Picato era. But that may just be me.

Anyone found strings similar to the Picato/Overwater? When I asked Bass Direct they put me onto La Bella nickel rounds. These are nice but not the same.