PatrickJ

Natural

Love that bass, very nice! I did consider the traditional headstock but with the modified Custom J body, and Jon's own headstock design it feels more contemporary to me and a bit different to all the Fender and Fender clones I've had in the past whilst still being rooted in the tradition. Jon sent me some pictures of some options for the drop top which I used with the template to do some mockup's of my design ideas..., this is my current favourite. Though flamed Maple is always a classic

Yes, this has been playing on my mind and I did some hard thinking over the last week or so. What I really wanted from my next bass was to sell on my 5 string J and replace it with a 4. So with my first custom, and with it being a present, I've decided to play safe / conservative and opt for something I know I'm going to love and grow old with rather than taking too many risks. Therefore rather than going for the Shuker Horn I've settled on a slightly modified Custom J model which should look something like this template I knocked up (I hope). I love the Aguilar pickup's on my 5 string and I'm playing safe with an alder body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard etc. I only decision I have to make is on the top wood veneer, and I think I' probably driving Jon a bit nuts as he has so many options available I'm struggling to decide :/. I definitely need to open a build thread.

Is that not true about all signature models? Certainly has been the case with Fender, and look at the prices of those new Markbass Bona instruments.

Those are flipping ridiculous prices. I always felt Markbass Amps and Cabs were nicely priced and I was expecting their basses to follow. But the best part 4k for a bad Zon knock-off takes the fosters !!!!! 😡

Hmmm, This is usually how 'discussions' with my wife end.

Ah the spectracomp - the gateway drug into compression (at least for me). I had one for about six months flipping between a few presets, loved it but decided to actually learn about compression and purchased the Hyper Luminal.

That's a great idea! Unfortunately my band doesn't have a strong enough repertoire to pull this off but I love the concept.

The challenge has gone extremely badly for me thus far. I seemed to have somehow acquired the following new gear: - Tech21 Q Strip - Darkglass VMT deluxe - MXR IsoBrick power supply - Markbass 2x10 cabinet

I tried to watch the videos but I just couldn't get through them :(. i'm super interested in Funk so I was open to learning some new stuff but 20 mins through these videos I abandoned all hope. Bass is so much more prevelant in Funk than other forms of popular music, I was really hoping to get some insight into common chord progressions incl types of chords used and associated chord scales/ modes used for grooving (lots of 7th and 9th chords right?). 16th note groove theory and technique would have been great too - ultimately I was hoping to find something that would help improve my ability to jam along to these tunes. I was also looking forward to the gear videos, but you seemed to focus solely on your rigs rather than that of the likes of Bootsy. I'm not particularly interested in your busking rigs (I couldn't see the link to the theory of funk, if I was looking for information on how to busk as a bassist it would have been more helpful) Anyways I gave it a try, just not what I was hoping for , I wish you luck with the rest of the series. Hopefully others are finding it more informative than I. Perhaps I've just massively missed the point with it all. If anyone does have some good resources on theory / technique for funk I'd love to hear about them. Cheers

Since starting this thread I've tried a few string sets, Ernie Ball Slinky Roundwounds, Ernie Ball Cobalt flats, DR Sunbeams, La Bella Deep Bass, D'Addario Chromed etc. The strings I've liked the most, and by a long way were the EB Cobalt Flats (pink gauge). This is despite having a string snap on one set (50£ down the pan). I find they are a really nice blend between the advantages of Roundwounds and Flatwounds with not too many compromises. Not cheap but definitely my string of choice from this day forth

According to Wikipedia, to be a true Luthier you need to have made lutes.

Hmm, I may be living this nightmare as my Luthier is getting extremely cagey about how much my custom build is going to cost. He does keep sending me pictures of nice woods though.

I've been reading lots of good things on this forum regarding the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Really enjoying this tiny desk concert

I had shoulder surgery a few years back - the worst thing about it was the nerve block... especially as mine took forever to wear off. Wishing you a speedy recovery!

I have a morning of boring admin to work through. Listening to some lighthearted funk keeping me going.

This has possibly posted before but it's jumped to the top of my To Learn list

Being presented with 50 songs to learn is really daunting, I'd be feeling very similar to you. I would definitely get them to agree to an initial set list of 10-20 you can get focussed on. Then I'd probably try and get the basic structure down for each and a feel for the main riffs, rather than learn each song as per recording .I'd then bring in what ever intricacies and variations may exist as I feel more comfortable. Be open with them on how you are feeling, I'm sure they want to work with you on getting up to speed.

😭😭😭

Looking to finalise spec for my custom build. Got most of it figured out except the bridge, any favourites / recommendations from you guys?

This is the approach I'm taking. I met Jon on Friday and he let me try out a couple of his basses, I like the design of the Horn so will go with that, perhaps a slight tweak to the cutaways to make them a little more conservative. Bodywood I'm going to play safe and go with Alder. That's the same as my Sandberg and Mayones basses so I've got an idea on weight / tonal properties. Pickup's, Aguilar single coil Soapbars. I have aguilar single coil pickups on my Mayones and think they sound great so again I feel fairly safe on that choice, no changes to placement. The thing that sold me on a Shuker build was the neck profile. I'm quite fussy on neck but I found his shape very comfortable. He had a few sizes in the work shop so I was able to find the most comfy for me.

Fingers crossed, though I'm not holding my breath

Went to see Jon on Friday. He showed me a number of neck profiles and I got to play (unplugged) on a couple of finished basses (series 2 and a horn). Necks were fantastic, gentle C profile, not too thin but overly thick - it was at that point I pretty much made my decision to go with a custom Shuker build.

Clearly I have a type! These are my three short listed body shapes, all modernised J Basses ACG Retro B GB Spitfire Shuker Custom J Bass