TrevorR

Old bass day? New old bass day? But either way I’ve now got an old friend back in my hands... back at the SE Bass Bash last month I was chatting to @cetera about my old Frankenjazz and he asked why I never brought it to the Bass Bashes? I explained that about 7 or 8 years ago I’d loaned it to a producer chum for a project and he loved it so much he kept asking to hold onto it for a bit longer. He really loved it and used it on a lot of projects. Months turned into years and I never had the heart to ask for it back. “But it’s YOUR bass, man!” Was Gary’s comment. Well from then on I kept hankering to get it back... more and more... so the other week I dropped him a line and on Monday we met up and swapped it back. I got the bass off eBay about 12 or more years ago from a web shop called Build-a-bass with the idea that it would be the basis for customising. It was back when you could get 2 dollars to the pound so it really was a steal! The story goes that Goerdt from Build-a-bass bought up a load of bankrupt/lawsuit stock from a small builder in Rhode Island (I think) who was building slightly too good Jazz bass copies back in the early 90s and has since been selling the fully loaded bodies and necks as parts. It all sounds a bit suss but, to be fair, the build quality is really good - including the quality of the ash body, the finish and the maple in the neck. Plus when I popped off the scratch plate the whole cavity was fully copper foil shielded and there was a “Sept 91” QA sticker... The neck isn’t as narrow as some Jazzes at the first fret with a bit more meat - which I really love. I like a “proper” Jazz neck, but I like this more! The plan was to change the tuners which were not the best quality, throw on a Badass II, swap the pickups and add a preamp. Of those I only put on some Hipshot tuners, added some Graphtech saddles and put in an Audere Jazz plate. The pickups sounded great and I never had the feeling I needed to change them. Keeping the BBOT bridge also retained the through body stringing. It’s great to have it back. It still feels and plays great and sounds fabulous to my ears. Can’t wait for an opportunity to properly put it through its paces...

Nah, turns out it was a misprint. Hope that @Billy Apple had a nice couple of weeks in Crewe!

Or have “Easy” by The Commodores as their first dance...

If it is a splinter (not 100% convinced but still...) then a baking soda poultice can work a treat for pulling it out... https://www.solvhealth.com/blog/5-creative-ways-to-remove-a-splinter

Using flash for gig photography (as a pro/semi-pro) would be one of the quickest ways to get yourself ejected from the building! Or at least produce only photos of an artist scowling at you. Even presuming that your flash had the reach to be effective across that range rather than just mess with your exposure. It’s all about wide aperture, balancing “film speed” with image quality, balancing shutter speed with exposure... ...not using flash!

To be honest I've be reluctant to store an instrument in the loft. In your situation I'd probably just stick them at the back of a wardrobe with shirts and coats hanging in front of them. Burglars are, by nature, opportunist and in and out quickly. They'll go for visible, portable, easily sellable stuff like consumer electricals, jewellery etc. They're not going to be looking around in clothing wardrobes or the cupboard under the stairs etc where you'd not usually find the easy, high value stuff.

Good news!!!

Martin, Sorry to have been the potential bearer of bad news. Hope that it all gets sorted out amicably and without kerfuffle.

I’m pretty sure it’s in breach of the Gambling Act. I’ve emailed Martin Sims at Enfield this morning via their FB site saying he should check it out and pointing to some Gambling Commission web links. Let’s see if it’s still up there by tomorrow... Maybe you’ll be lucky if they do a Big Bass GIVEAWAY @LewisK1975

Easy... I’d have three models... Mark 3 Wal four string. Flamed sycamore top with a translucent blue burst finish and matching headstock. Black hardware. Mark 1 Wal four string. Olive ash top in natural finish. Matching headstock. Silver hardware. Mark 3 Wal four string. Beech top. Natural finish. Silver hardware. I’m a man of simple and predictable (if eyewateringly expensive) tastes. And the bad news... Wal don’t do “endorsements” so I’d be paying full whack, just like anyone else. And waiting two years for them.

Excellent news! Good to hear that, once again, us having fun also helps some good causes.

You know, normally I really don’t like modern single cuts... but that is a really lovely, visually well balanced body shape! Lovely. Can’t wait to see it finished!

I’ll bring along my usual big bundle of review CDs and a Q-Tron that I won last year and never found a use for.

Change mine once a year on New Year’s Day (or the day after), whether they need it or not (they never do).

Those of you stressing about pops and crackles when unplugging an active bass, this is your friend...

And Vivaldi ‘s Four Seasons... or was it Four Cheeses...?

Yup, active players soon get used to unplugging their basses as they put them back on the stand after playing. Most basses use a stereo jack socket - TRS. When you put a (mono) jack in the R & S complete the power circuit as well as acting as negative/earth for the signal. Except on Wals where the socket actually has a switch built in which the jack plug physically closes! Typical Wal bit of engineering. Unplugging every time and a battery will last months, a year even! Plugged in the battery will just go after a bit, depending on how power hungry the preamp is. Active Bass 101...

Phenomenal playing... but how no earth has he managed to have a career and avoid crippling right hand carpal tunnel syndrome? That wrist posture!!!!!!!!!

No, it wouldn’t. But if you did wire a bass like that with “pull for off” it could. Right until you closed the lid of your bass’s case! Click! Same with mini toggles, potentially. So many (pointless) over engineered solutions on here which rely as much on memory as just unplugging the darned thing. @NancyJohnson, do tell me that your OP was just trolling the lot of us!

The Listening Service on Radio 3is always a great listen. This episode on electronic music has a good section on the Theremin (and also on the development of synthesisers in general...). https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b09dxbfg Release Date: 12 Nov 2017 Available for over a year “Tom Service investigates the rise of the synthesizer. How did this initially crude assemblage of electrical components develop in a few decades to become one of the most ubiquitous and flexible of musical instruments? He consults Peter Zinovieff, inventor of the first British commercially-available synthesizer (the VCS3, made in his garden shed in Putney); and also young composer/performer Hannah Peel, who likes to work with the sound of vintage analogue synths.”

Looking forward to this. Seen Pete with Buddy Whittington several times. Him and Darby Todd on drums makes for a rocking rhythm section!!!

This very Wal Mk 1... Saw it hanging in a shop in Denmark Street around 2000 and thought, “I’m sure I recognise that thumb rest.” I asked and they said that Martin Kemp from Spandau Ballet was selling his Wals (there was a walnut one next to it). Funnily enough I’d popped in to ask if they had come across any Pro Series Wals - as I really wanted one to go with my Mark 1. The price was a decent second hand price too, not some silly celebrity bass figure. Anyway that evening I mentioned it to my wife who said “You should have bought it.” “Really?” “Yes, of course!” Popped back in the next day but of course... you can fill in the rest...

You carry on. But you’ll be pretty wayward, son, if you do.

Strictly DID only gives you 8 choices but since the OP said 10 so I’m sure I can squeeze a few extra in... as an extra artificial condition I’ve said one album per artist in the main choices... ELO - Out Of The Blue Thin Lizzy - Jailbrak Horslips - The Tain The Doobie Brothers - Takin It To The Streets Aimee Mann - Whatever Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version Of War Of The Worlds Elgar Cello Concerto in Em - controversially I’d probably go for Julian Lloyd Webber/Yehudi Menuhin/LSO rather than either of the Du Pre versions La Quattro Stagioni (The Four Seasons) - Antonio Vivaldi, I Musici Yes - Close To The Edge Rush - Moving Pictures Gordon Giltrap - Fear Of The Dark ...rats that’s 11! My bonus choices are (I reckon I’d need to smuggle these in too)... Thin Lizzy - Johnny The Fox and/or Bad Reputation Horslips - The Book Of Invasions The Alan Parsons Project - Eye In The Sky Iona - Iona The Doobie Brothers - The Captain and Me Steely Dan - The Royal Scam (though realistically I’d probably have a Best Of package) Jean Michel Jarre - Les Chants Magnetiques

Well, my wife gave me an album for my birthday and the vendor on Amazon had mislabelled it so it was one I already had. She said, send it back and just spend the equivalent cash on something else. So (overspent slightly) and got the 2 disc version of Thin Lizzy Live At The BBC and The Sidewinder by Lee Morgan. Both fab in very different ways!