NancyJohnson

'I can see a team wearing claret and blue lifting the Premier League trophy...'

I was just looking at some old stuff I'd posted and had a bit of a dark chuckle and the 'So as 2019 draws to a close, I can only say, hell, 2020 has got to be better, eh?' About a week after I posted that, I went to Iceland for a few days over my birthday and unbeknownst to us things were really kicking off in China. 2020 wasn't better, was it? It was the year from hell globally.

[Mahoosive Edit] This journey, into bass playing? What made you pick up that first bass at the start of this long and winding road? I had mates (very good 14/15 year old drummer and a fast learning guitarist) who wanted to start a band, and I had access to a bass. Do you still have the same fire and enthusiasm? Do you still love it? I have love for the instrument and the collection as it stands, but do I have the fire? In all honesty, that ship sailed a while ago. I just tend to pick up a bass and noodle for ten minutes. I have little desire to do band stuff right now, it's just too exhausting, frustrating and stressful. Musicians, by and large, are lazy and need pushing to do stuff and most suffer from allusions of 'what's in it' for them. I can't deal with this, or pander to their whims, any more. What has changed along the way? Your taste in music, taste in basses? I'd been playing for about ten years when Polydor came knocking. That was a major knock to my confidence. The anticipation and then the news they were only interested in our vocalist. That rejection hardened me a bit. Musical taste hasn't really moved much, I still get turned on by the same genres/bands. Taste in basses changed largely due to cost/availability. I've got cheap kit and I've got expensive kit. They all sound more or less the same. What was the first bass? And what’s the latest? I had an Arbiter, or CBS/Arbiter SG thing. White. £35.00. My last one was the Spector Euro-X. Black. £2,500.00

Despite my love of the Thunderbird, I've always adored a Fenderesque neck with binding and blocks. I suppose that harks back to my first Columbus Jazz.

As I've posted previously, strapping on a Thunderbird is like magic; it can transform you from a slightly overweight curmudgeonly man in his 50s into Nikki Sixx in his mid-1980s prime. I don't know how it works.

Customish pickguard pretty much sorted, although unordered. Nice deep tortoiseshell. I'll give you this:

I've got everything except the pickguard. I need to do some carpentry/filling before I order that. I'm quite looking forward to this one. Much better than forking out a grand for what I'm doing.

My little secret.

#6 & #7

That was frankly one of the funniest things I've seen in a while. I was eating at the time and when the piano bit played, I kind of coughed and snorted at the same time, resulting in a bit of a sandwich going up my nasal passage. 😄

If you're at all familiar with Milehouse Studios on You Tube, he uses Frtlzr (aka Fret-a-lizer). While the system is now a sponsored supporter within the videos, he was using the stuff for quite a while before they came on board. https://www.frtlzr.com

#5

Are they slap cancelling?

#4

@prowla and I are checking about an additional room at the same location. To be honest I think were both overwhelmed at the uptake. My main concern is that there's enough power/sockets. There's no agenda/running order or anything as of yet, so we would be grateful if anyone has invited speakers/demo guys that we're let known ahead of the curve. More later.

Being a man of a certain age, I can remember a few manufacturers that seemed to be either the go-to source for building your own or something to use as a modding platform. Schecter were one of the first (before they became a defacto maker and just sold parts), SX Guitars, Sue Ryder (obvs). There was a load of guff about 20 years ago about Alex Lifeson investing in a guitar maker who subsequently went bust and all the stock was being sold off cheap - I'm struggling for the headstock name...Signature? Performer?)

I bought a very expensive compressor being of the belief it would somehow revolutionise my tone. Hahaha. Snake oil.

Delivery #3.

I've been to the US quite a few times; the first occasion, mid-80s, honeymoon, it was honestly like travelling into the future. Several times we toyed with moving there and I've oft quoted the Blade Runner line pertaining to the off-world colonies and the opportunity to 'begin again in a land of opportunity and adventure,' in support of this. If I was 20 now, I'd be more interested in living in Italy. I wish I'd just realised that 40 years ago.

Delivery #2.

Just the box. It may not reflect the contents. Cryptic.

Just starting to assemble parts. The thrill of the chase. @neepheid knows what it is. Shhh!

I'm a huge Bongo fan, I owned a 5HH and loved everything about it aside from the ridiculousness of the preamp output level; I did post here years ago enquiring whether there was a route to make it passive. You'd start a gig with a beautiful balanced tone, but inevitably you'd just keep nudging the controls up and an hour later [it] would be mush. It was hard to keep under control. Loved the quirky design, the neck carve, the string spacing, the colour and if I had £3-4k down the back of the sofa I'd consider another. These, though? I'm not saying no, more nah. At present, I'm fairly uninterested. I'm not saying Sterling kit is awful, far from it, but having witnessed a few bands supporting us where the bassists were using Sterling Stingrays, these instruments were some way off what they were copying.

Your line of questioning was a bit odd and if you read any of my posts elsewhere you'll see I frequently use the word 'subjective' when making comparisons, simply because I know what may appeal to me would be abhorrent to others. Simply because I say the Bongo was fantastic (it ticked so many boxes), I shouldn't need to have to justify that to you by providing a list of instruments by way of validation.

Mr Potato, If you're after a list of my top 5 of everything I've owned; MusicMan Bongo 5HH (gone) Mike Lull JAXT4 (still here) Hamer Cruisebass (still here) Spector Euro-X (still here) Gibson Thunderbird (Ivory) (gone) I could likely list you another 20 basses that I'm either still in ownership of OR have sold on to fund purchases, if that lights your candle. Just because they're gone doesn't mean they weren't - for me at least - sterling instruments. Search hard enough on this site and you'll find documented proof of most of my kit, past and present.