BrunoBass

I’m constantly impressed and inspired by the bass build diaries on Basschat, as well as build videos on YouTube etc. 
 

I’ve built, or rather assembled, basses from parts, which has been a fun and learning experience. I feel now that I’d like to get deeper into this and build a bass (or basses) from scratch. I have neither the funds or space to kit out a wood working shop, as much as I’d like to, so I’m wondering if there are such things as workshops for hire? I can’t find anything online, and I suspect H&S / insurance implications maybe preclude such a service, but I’m thinking if anyone knows someone on Basschat will.

I used to work in a fabricating shop and have experience (although not recent) of using routers, band saws and assorted other things that can hurt you, so I’m not a total noob at wood working.

G&L? 
 

http://glguitars.com/product/kiloton-2/ 

Maybe their custom shop could help? 

1 hour ago, Dad3353 said:

I'd have ticked the box 'All of the above', if there had been one. It depends entirely on the song, so, for different songs, I (in the case of the drum part...) or the bass player (Our Youngest son...) will do any, and have done all, of the choices shown. When I was playing bass, I'd do the same. 'Nail it' if I'm able to, 'Close enough' if I'm not, 'Embellish' if it works better that way, 'Dumb it down' for the same reason, and adapt to the group's style when there's an obvious mis-match.

Nice try, though. 

Exactly this ⬆️

Shedloads of squelchy, synthy shenanigans here... 

Sir Psycho Sexy gets the nod for being the squelchy tone on BSSM (as previously noted) but check out The Power of Equality too, from the 1.59 mark 

5 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

1. I came across this really nice version of police and thieves , by glen dacosta, with boris gardiner or Robbie Shakespeare on bass and sly dunbar on drums 

And the original by junior Murvin from 1976 , I was playing this around 1979 🙂 great tune , nice Bassline 

 

The original is an absolute classic and one of my all time favourites, along with ‘Two Sevens Clash’. 

9 hours ago, AndyTravis said:

That colour was called Electron Blue. Only did it for a year or so. Nice colour.

Thanks for the info Andy. I can’t find much online about this era of bass production so stuff like this is good to know.

Removing the bridge and changing the strap buttons I was surprised how much finish is on the body, it must be 2 - 2.5mm thick.

I took the new bass to band practise tonight. It sounds great, exactly what I wanted it to be. It just sits so well in the mix; punchy with a pick, fat and warm with fingers - amp set flat, tone on the bass on full. Easy peasy. I love it, my band mates love it, and I can’t wait to gig it. 

I started off on the cheap stuff as you do, and as I got older and had more disposable income I acquired expensive gear. All of that’s now gone, and I’m currently using Squier, MIM and self built / modded basses, which I gig regularly. My view is that they’re tools to do a job, and a £300-400 bass will do that job perfectly adequately for me, so that’s all I need. 

On 08/02/2020 at 12:58, prowla said:

The orange one is delicious. I built my own a couple of years ago. If you ever want to sell it let me know! 

Is this the Affinity range? If so, agreed - surprisingly impressive basses. I picked one up a year or two ago from a branch of Cash Converters whilst visiting Leicester. The guy was literally putting it in the window as I walked past. £100. I went straight in and got it. I gigged it regularly and found it to be an ideal bass for some of the grottier pubs we were playing at the time. 

Tremendous, melodic bassline. See also ‘Goodnight Tonight’.

I gig regularly with a J&D ‘75 Jazz bass which is excellent and cost me £105 new. The bang for buck factor is strong.

On 08/02/2020 at 16:56, Lozz196 said:

It’s a good call, last year my bass inexplicably wouldn’t work at a gig - was fine at home when I checked it before leaving - so borrowed a Squier Matt Freeman Precision for the gig. Was great, only cost a third (maybe even a quarter) of my US Precision and was plenty enough for me - why on Earth did Squier stop making them?

Royalty issues I believe. 
 

I wanted one and put the feelers out recently. I got offered a couple, the respective owners wanted £425 and £450. For a Squier... 

‘Hey Mister Bassman...’

21 hours ago, bassbiscuits said:

I’ve done the band with married members in it, and yes it did all go a bit ABBA and fell apart. Which was a shame cos it was a really good band. 

Going a bit ABBA is bad enough, wait til it all goes a bit Fleetwood Mac and you’ve got real problems 😉 

13 minutes ago, DoubleOhStephan said:

Cool, happy to help 👊🏻

LPB is metallic and has a faint green in it, only really noticeable under the scratchplate & bridge where it hasn't faded. 

The colour under the bridge when I removed it was the same as the main colour, no fading at all, probably due to being in a gig back for years. No greening so probably not LPB then - well spotted! 👍🏻

Just now, Reggaebass said:

Sorry It wasn’t a criticism Bruno , I meant the neck looks nice and slim at the nut for a precision,  my P is 41mm , 🙂

No problem, I took it as an observation not a criticism 🙂

I think it’s 41mm, it’s certainly not ‘50s width, nice shallow C profile too. 

1 hour ago, DoubleOhStephan said:

Sounds like you've got a great deal, congratulations! 

Not sure it's LPB though, looks more like either Imperial Blue or Metallic Blue? The only reason I mention it is, funnily enough the bass I bought I mentioned researching above is LPB, and it's quite a bit different to yours. 

Here's a link to the Fender colour chart in case you're interested. 👍🏻

Thanks, that’s useful. Looking at the chart I think my bass is most likely Metallic Blue; that’s the closest it looks, screen colour calibration notwithstanding. It has a subtle sparkle to it. 
 

Is LPB flatter? 

1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

You’ve got it up to a great finish, congrats, when you get a good one you get a good one.

Yep even with the ancient strings it was loud and resonant unamplified, usually a sign that it’s going to a good ‘un. 

2 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

Nice , the nut looks slim or is it just the picture 👍 

The nut does need looking at, I’ve set it up the best I can (truss road, intonation etc) but I don’t have the skill or experience to sort the nut. It’ll do for now but ideally it needs some pro attention.

1 hour ago, James Nada said:

Could this be the 4005 copy he played in the early years?  Shaftsbury?   

 

Could well be 

So this has turned into a NBD, thread title changed accordingly... 

I’ve been after a Precision bass for the new Britpop covers band I’ve joined and this 2005 Mexican model came up locally at a good price. I managed to get the girl selling it down to a very good price so I was happy. Turns out she’d bought it new in 2005 when she was a teenager, but after a while she’d lost interest and had put it in its gig bag where it remained for fifteen years... As you’d imagine it was very clean, but showing signs of inactivity. First thing to do was remove the old strings which were utterly dead and give it a good clean. Lake Placid Blue isn’t my favourite colour on a guitar but this actually looks pretty nice. My first thought was to change the white scratchplate for a black one, but over the years this one has aged to a nice faded white which looks kind of vintage, so it’ll stay for now. I sanded down the glossy neck so it’s a bit smoother, and the rosewood fretboard was very dry so I treated it with some lemon oil fretboard conditioner. I changed the strap buttons to Schaller strap locks which I do to all my basses. The neck was bowed considerably so a bit of truss rod adjustment was necessary to get it playable. The bridge was in bad shape, particularly the grub screws which were stripped. I had a spare bridge so I changed it, and will change it again to a hi-mass bridge later. It was fortuitous that I removed the bridge as the earthing wire had slipped back into it’s hole so I was able to pull it out and get it back in contact with the bridge. I did a quick set up on the new Ernie Ball Super Slinky strings that I fitted and gave it a final rub down. It sounds great, exactly how a P Bass should. I may well change the pickup later but for now it’s fine. Nice slim neck, very playable and 4.1kg in weight so it should be good for a long gig. I’m pretty pleased with it, especially for the price. Result! 

I remember seeing footage of him playing a Rickenbacker 4005 too, of all things.

Thanks for all the replies. I’ve offered a lower price than what they were asking for, which they’ve accepted. Going to have a look and potentially buy tomorrow.