Rikki_Sixx

PM sent! 😃

Welcome from another Yorkshireman! Just moved from Leeds to Wakefield (ish) and yet to unpack the bass gear 😅

This has been an interesting read. I picked up a Behringer BDI 21 ages ago but haven't used it much yet. I've been having it at the start of my chain, but definitely going to try it at the end and see what happens!

That is not a colour / material combination I would ever have thought to go for, but man that thing looks awesome! Glad you found one you like and got to try a bunch out!

More importantly, well done on getting the staff at a guitar shop to lay out all their wares before you like a mighty prince 😂 Too often staff in this big outfits just aren't interested so it's good to see them putting the work in!

I started on a Hohner Rockwood, a P-bass copy from a folk music shop. As far as I can remember it was the only electric bass they had, in the only music shop I'd ever been in and I didn't even try it - I was 15 at the time. I later learned it was an absolute dog. It had an action you could sleep under and the cavity was wonky so the pickguard wasn't completely secured into the body. It had sat in the window in bright sun with a big pointy price sticker on the pickguard, so there was a bright white spot around where it had been bleached by the sun.

A few basses later I moved it on, selling it for next-to-nothing to a lorry driver after demonstrating it's issues and letting him have a go on it. I had painstakingly removed the stickers and cleaned it to sell, which reminded me what a dog it really was when you looked at the fit & finish of it. I sort of missed it for a while for sentimental reasons, but I hadn't played it in a long time!

Man those stickers tell a story! There's some great bands on there. I did the same on my first bass, and when it came time to remove the stickers someone told me that deoderant was a great way to remove the sticky residue. Probably sprayed half a can of Lynx on that old thing! 😅

On 19/05/2021 at 07:36, Skybone said:

Always loved the look of the JayDee's, made an enquiry about getting one built a few years back, but the build time put me off. Still want one though.

This is something I was going to ask about when I saw the date of the first post on this thread. Does John build everything himself? I'd not heard of these before but I can see why they're in demand! 🤤

On 14/05/2021 at 20:45, TheGreek said:

Warwick Tapewounds (45-105) - currently £13.90 for a 4 string set

https://www.thomann.de/gb/warwick_bass_string_set_045_105.htm

Warwick Tapewounds 40-100 - currently £14.20 (less material but cost more??)

https://www.thomann.de/gb/warwick_bass_string_set_040_100.htm

Singles are out of stock but Thomann will order for you for less than direct from Warwick.

Warwick single .120 

Sorry didn't see this! Thanks for linking these, I did have a look on Thomann but wasn't having much luck. I probably skipped over these as they don't have "tapewound" in the title, and seemed Warwick-specific! I'll get a set on order!

Would it be worth going for a slightly lighter gauge, as the tape adds a bit extra to the diameter? I'm thinking about the nut slots on my Jazz

Thanks for this! I'm looking to try tapewounds for the first time on my VM Jazz but having never played with anything other than nickel roundwounds I wasn't sure where to begin. They actually seem really hard to find - you mention that they're sold out at Status but I've not found much on Thomann, PMT or elsewhere.

At £20 for a set I'd love to give these a try, as the only ones I've really found so far have been really steep!

A  bit late to the party here, but I recently picked up a Yamaha THR10 and it's fantastic. I'm always concious of irritating the neighbours, and when I saw these on YouTube I started keeping an eye out.

They're hard to describe. It has two 3" speakers but they get great volume that doesn't "travel". Plenty of low-end too, somehow. The half-dozen guitar voicings are great (one of the reasons I got it) and it makes a fantastic music player. Beautiful too, could sit out in the open and no one would bat an eye.

The Blackstar BEAM is similar, though I haven't tried it. Both especially great if you play both guitar and bass.

It looks great, whatever it may turn out to be! I'd be interested to know if there's anything in the neck pocket (more out of curiosity, I'm certainly no expert).

Absolutely love that burst with the red tortoiseshell!

Bought a Behringer pre-amp pedal from Paul this week and it arrived in great condition and so quickly that I think he must have bribed the postman. It was padded, well packaged and I absolutely love it.

Cheers dude!

20 hours ago, martthebass said:

 Interested in @Rikki_Sixxcomment on his Dano....my Longhorn with a very skinny neck, though only owned for a couple of years has ultra low action and not needed resetting yet - no idea what the construction is under the paint though.   

Out of interest, how old is your Longhorn @martthebass? I know (or think) they've been around a while. I had a Dano '63 bass bought brand-new in around 2009, so I'm not sure how things changed over the years. It was certainly on the budget end! Sounded so good though, I still miss it!

I wouldn't be put-off one way or the other, although I'd expect that a laminated neck has more strength to it. Some people like the aesthetics you can conjure up with a nice choice of timbers for a laminated neck, so that's a potential plus too.

The worst neck I ever had was on a Danelectro re-issue (not a 50's / 60's model). It was all over the shop in the end. I'd be interested to know what the construction of the neck was. It was painted black, so it will remain one of lifes great mysteries.

PM'd 😄

I had a Dano '63 bass which I adored, but I was terrified of doing anything with it. The action was starting to creep higher and when I tried to adjust the bridge the screws started ripping through the top of the body. The neck was bowing, I hadn't been playing long and didn't have a clue what to do.

That said, I'd definitely have another. it was comfortable, sounded great and looked as cool as you like. Hopefully I'd have more confidence this time around!

Good luck! Keep the pickups though  

Hi Bob and welcome!

It would be interesting to hear what you mean - you could do a rough n' ready video using your phone or something to give us a better idea of what's happening. 

Hope you're enjoying the forums!

Hello @Velarian, have another West Yorkshire welcome from me! 👋

I treated myself to a late-lockdown treat (of the small 6-string variety) the other day and absolutely loving it. It needs restringing of course, so while i'm at it I wanted to do a bit of cleaning.

There's a little bit of light corrosion or oxidisation around the bushings / washers around the tuning posts, on the front of the headstock. They're Grover Deluxe tuners, presumably nickel?

What would be the best way to go about cleaning these, without damaging the finish? I'm hoping not to have to remove these as I'm not all that confident in doing so without wrecking it, but I also don't want to damage the finish.

I was going to mask around them with painters tape and give them a few wipes with WD-40 on an ear bud or something but thought I'd ask the collective first. I'm sure plenty of you guys have done this before! The closest I've come to this is chucking a Babicz bridge in some WD-40 for an hour to get rid of some similar oxidisation, but that was off the body at the time.  

I posted this an hour or so ago on sister-site Guitarchat but realised that BC is much more active, so sorry for the sort-of repost if anyone has seen this! 

That Jazz and the Shergold are so nice! What a group

That is a brilliant looking bass. So glad to hear the East J-Tone is easy to install, I really fancy upgrading to one at some point in the future!

Surely they can't deny you time off for medical stuff? 😓 A CT scan won't even take long

These look great, I know it's not the "old" CV line but I've heard great things about the quality. Very similar in build and materials to the VM line, which is absolutely worth the money.

I also have RA so I can empathise to a degree, sounds like a really difficult thing to go through. Hopefully the CT scan comes around soon and you'll get some good news, keeping everything crossed for you @Bassman Sam!

This has been brilliant to follow, really interesting! I love a good, in-depth build diary with tons of info and decent pictures. This is already shaping up to be a stunner, can't wait to see more