Happy Jack

Trawl through images on't'Net until you find something that works for you. If you can find an 'owner' then ask for permission to use the image. The Junkyard Dogs have used the 'Cuddles' image for nearly 20 years after Rick found it online and suggested it as a joke. We've never found anyone who claimed to own it. Damo & The Dynamites have used the 'Rockabilly Skeletons' image since the band was founded five years ago after then-drummer Marcel found it online. I traced the image to a famous Japanese graphic designer & artist based in Tokyo and LA; I emailed him a couple of times asking for permission to use his image but he never bothered to reply.

Yup, took the DB to Bill at Thwaites and - of course - he spotted something we'd both missed, which was that the fingerboard was just starting to separate from the neck, further exaggerating the ski-jump. His opinion was that he should detach the fingerboard, get both neck and underside of the fingerboard properly straight and mated, and then do a "shoot / chute?" (as he called it) - i.e. shave the fingerboard. He reckoned that would get us almost there, and fine tuning could be achieved (if necessary) by converting my fixed bridge to adjustable. He tried playing the bass for a minute or so, and then ... ahem ... expressed his surprise that I'd played a 3-set gig with it on Saturday night. 🙄🤣 Watch this space.

Posted by The Rutles Fan Club on FB: "After being lost for 51 years, Dirk McQuickley’s missing guitar string has reportedly been found. This guitar string was special as it played only certain hit-making notes, and many believe its loss was the reason for the Rutles break-up. The current owner (possible thief) of the guitar string has made the following statement: “I’m keeping it. If Dirk wants the string back, he can come engage in fisticuffs with me.” More on this exciting story as it develops …"

I tend to think of myself as being quite good at lateral thinking but in truth that never even occurred to me! 🤣

So about the Guest List ...

Looks like I'll be taking the bass into Thwaites just as soon as the new pickup arrives. I think Steve is posting it to me today, so that should hopefully be a trip to Bushey on Wednesday. Incidentally, this is the bass in question. This video is from near the end of Set #2 (of 3) on Saturday night, by which time I'd worked out how to get a decent sound out of it with the current setup. I'm bloody glad I'd taped my fingers ...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/JOYO-Wireless-Rechargeable-Transmitter-Instruments/dp/B08R8FSFRB/ref=asc_df_B08R8FSFRB/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=658902607403&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15851069143679720583&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046085&hvtargid=pla-1471871753430&psc=1&mcid=56b5aaec1df93bed828258193a5d7380

https://www.andertons.co.uk/xvive-wireless-guitar-system-in-black?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=surfaces&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA8sauBhB3EiwAruTRJl6GeYhuNCMN0NI72ckQfdnf_oqbRBhg7fFaFTq7IeFCTi5WQQ800hoCaHkQAvD_BwE

If you find the X-Vive pricing a bit off-putting (though they're actually quite cheap) then take a look at the equivalent Joyo unit - remarkably good value and just as effective. Yes, I have one of those too. 😂

I use the X-Vive Wireless Bug system with DB at pretty much every gig and it usually works just fine. My DBs have either mag or piezo pickups and the wireless bugs seem to have no trouble with either. I say "usually" because occasionally I get intermittent drop-out issues, caused (presumably) by all the signals in certain rooms. When that happens, I don't fight it - just shift back to a cable. DBs generate more physical vibration than solid-body electric basses, so you also need to pay a bit of attention to the mounting point for the 1/4" jack socket. Adding the weight of a wireless bug to a freely-vibrating socket can also cause occasional cutting-out. It's usually very easily fixed once you realise where the problems lie. My experience of wireless systems with base receivers and belt-packs and such has been uniformly poor; the quality and reliability of the signal doesn't seem to be significantly enhanced but you get to carry and plug in a shed-load of extra gear. Given that almost all my DB gigs are doubling gigs, with frequent swops to electric bass, I find that it's way WAY easier to just have two sets of X-Vive bugs and a 2-channel preamp.

That's never bothered me at all. We all make decisions that are - ultimately - self serving so I've never had a problem with a muso colleague who "gets a better offer". What does bother me is the musos who make self-defeating decisions that screw up everyone, including themselves, i.e. no one benefits from the decision, it's just a clusterf***.

😱

Damn! That's what Silvie said. I'm feeling outvoted here. 😂 I assume that the existing fingerboard is (?) glued in place using (?) fish glue or similar. If that's the case then it should be a fairly easy job to remove it from the neck, especially since it doesn't matter if the fingerboard gets damaged in the process. Does anyone have any idea how much a good-quality (stable) replacement fingerboard is likely to cost? On the one hand it's just a shaped slab of (non-CITES) wood; on the other hand, this is DB we're talking about ...

I have a lovely Zeller 4/4 DB which - for a variety of reasons - only gets played at certain venues. It's not uncommon for there to be a few months between gigs for this particular bass. I took it to a large RBL hall last night and found it verged on being unplayable. The dusty end of the fingerboard has turned into a ski jump, with the action at the octave being perhaps 5/6mm but less than 2mm at the very end of the board. Worse, it's asymmetrical with the G side being noticeably more affected than the E side. (In fairness, it was only this asymmetric 'skew' that made the bass playable at all last night. 🙄) For clarity (1) the bass lives permanently in a centrally-heated house at a more-or-less constant temperature and with no outrageous swings in humidity. It lives alongside two other DBs, both 3/4s, neither of which have experienced this problem. For clarity (2) yes of course I should have checked before the load-out, but in truth I can't remember ever checking the neck/action on a DB before going to a gig ... it's never been necessary before. The only thing I always check is whether or not the straplock on my Precision has come loose. Yet again. So my largest bass has picked up both a huge banana-bow and a slight twist and I need to do something about it. Whatever action is needed is clearly outside my skill set and on another planet from my comfort zone. There is a DB luthier quite close to me (Thwaites in Bushey) so that's where I'll take the bass, but I need to know what to tell them to do. My own feeling is to have the fingerboard shaved to get it into the right profile for playing right now. That's reasonably major sugery and non-reversible. @Silvia Bluejay feels that I should instead ask Thwaites to try to straighten the neck (steam? clamps? electric shock treatment?). I agree that straightening is an option and would probably work, but my best guess is that it would be a short-term fix and that the fingerboard will tend to 'banana' again back to the same, unplayable condition. Full disclosure: Before this happened I was just about to do something to the end of the fingerboard anyway. I have ordered one of Steve Whitehouse's custom DB pickups, choosing one of the 'temporary fitment' packs so that I can move it between the Zeller and the Kolstein Busetto. Although in theory this shouldn't make any difference to the shave/straighten debate, it is something I need to bear in mind. Right now I'm looking for relevant experience, informed opinion, constructive suggestions. Let's see what I get. 😂😂😂

Play that funky liquid, white boy ...

https://therecordshopnashville.com/how-to-get-the-tic-tac-bass-sound/

I really can't imagine having a bass guitar with a neck anywhere near the depth of that on a DB. I've had both the Takamine TB10 (a great instrument) and the Safran Iris with which I replaced it. Both of those have necks - unsurprisingly - far more like a bass guitar than a DB. Playing a bass on a strap in an upright position is a very awkward thing, unless you happen to be Bill Wyman. I strongly recommend you start by simply buying a cheap fretless to experiment with. Lots of bassists buy a fretless and find they don't get on with it, so they are easy to find pre-owned and often at very reasonable prices.

I spent ages trying to find a Quantum neck in the early days of Basschat (so we're talking 2007-09 here) without success. I love graphite necks (hence my Status Streamline) and I love the 35" scale (hence my Mike Lull) but putting them together has always been a bit of a problem. Rob Green (Status) wouldn't even talk to me about it. 😂

Yup, the Toon is not how it used to be. 😉

The greatest aphrodisiac known to man ... the smell of money.

Can't wait to see how much they get when they finally auction Mark Knopfler ...

Sancho! My armour!