itu

Progressions, walking bass (two beat, four beat, walk), legato playing, reading and writing music, transcriptions, some ideas for soloing... ideas to play ergonomically, to rehearse productively... to open eyes to other music... technology stuff... anything. The most important thing to me is to listen to other bassists' playing and trying to understand, why and how they do their thing. Transcribing and scores help a lot although I am pretty slow. It is still fun.

I had a feel, that the builder(s) is a seasoned worker. Seams felt tight and good, so the woodwork was as it should be, very good. For the price in my country, I might say that they were solid performers. As I am into lighter instruments (rather 6 than 10 lbs), they were not my cup of tea.

If you remove pots and caps from the signal path, the signal gets slightly louder, and the frequency response gets a bit wider. This is the reason people talk about harshness. I have a bass with just a pickup wired to the output jack. I do the adjustments in the pedalboard and/or amp. Works like a dream - for me. The thing to have pots in the instrument has a lot to do with being able to do some sound tweaking quickly. Two switches for vol and tone would be a very fast option. (Carbon track pots are of low quality (noisy, unreliable...), but no one is interested in them, if the adjustments are needed. A higher quality conductive plastic pot - like blue Bourns - costs some more, but not that much.)

I have played few in a shop. One beauty was very dark, so a good looking one, but the weight was enormous. If weight is an issue, I would check that first. These Mayonnaises are certainly a good shot: looks, workmanship, quality, but the weight raises some discussion.

Put the board into two, upper and lower part. Needs some wires but maybe doable?

Stan the man - School days and that 1st solo (brown cover). It isn't my playing, but showed the variety of possibilities. Level42 helped me to find several instrument details like different string gauges. All records, where bassist is that magical ingredient that makes the arrangement work. Take the bass away and the song is lifeless. All players that play only the right notes in right places. They don't need to play every note but are able to simplify.

If an extra bright sound is in order, install a DPDT switch (can be rotary, too) that overrides the tone (and volumes). It can take the place of that fourth pot.

As long as they are magnetic, you may say that the pickup itself is passive. But there are active pickups, like Lightwave.

As I have an MG, two Vigiers, and two Status necks, I would say that every one works well. Steinberger had so strange neck profile (close to a double bass), that I never bought one. I did try two Zon Legacy Elites, too, but the MG won the first prize at that time (1995). I was about to buy a Vigier Passion II 5-string, but around a fortnight before I had gathered the money, that Vigier had gone. And a five string was a must at that time. Around 1990 - 1995 while studying bass I had a chance to play lots of fine instruments, like Pensa-Suhr, MVPedulla, Tobias Signature 5, MG BassStar fretless 4, Sadowsky, Spectors, JayDee, Alembic, two Ken Smiths, Status, four Vigiers, four Wals... oh dear, those were the days. And Bond had that strange graphite guitar. Congrats, you will get a tool that sounds kool.

So is stainless steel. I have soldered both materials with success. I do have some professional experience because of my previous work. I do prefer Cu to Al. Cu is easier - and better looking material.

If you have your own workshop, things show up in different light. Then you are able to cut the costs. Usually the components and tools tend to cost some more, than the Joe Average thought before starting the project.

No, I meant that covering the conductive surface with a non-conductive material prevents issues with components touching the ground.

Put oil to the soldering surfaces and you can solder Al. Check videos from youtube. If there are issues with grounding, it can be easily covered with a tape or any non-conductive material like thin cardboard.

@obbmas far as I have learned from here, produces excellent hand made pro stuff. Probably equals or surpasses my suggestions.

BYO is the most expensive way. Hands down. £100 is next to nothing: check some component prices and add them together. You will be amazed. It is like building a car from spare parts. @pedwrote a nice article:

Try these: https://m.thomann.de/gb/guitar_cables.html?keyFeature_11507=3%2C00+m|6%2C00+m&keyFeature_47036=Jack&keyFeature_52381=Jack&manufacturers=Cordial|Sommer+Cable With these you can not go totally wrong. If the manufacturer is something like "Fender", or "Harley Benton" your cable will be the weakest link of your sound.

The DC connector from that unit has broken from the PCBA. Open the unit, check the solderings and fix, if needed. At least you can opt one very common issue out. Put the cable to the connector when the unit is open. Push, turn and pull a bit to see if the solderings have failed. Modern factories use tiny amounts of tin and bigger parts are prone to brake.

If you need to build your board smallest possible, the cable/effects changes are a chore. How to override a non-functional pedal? The carrying bag may limit the board dimensions or changes: length, width, height, weight... If you have only certain cable lengths, try to think, where to put the slack. Velcros/ty-raps are your friend. I build my (slightly Holeyboard type) boards with ty-raps. They keep the effects in place better but all changes are slower and slightly harder to do. Placement seems to be limited, but it is not. And come on, millimeter movements are not reasonable. I try to think the dangers while playing: liquids (put some feets under the board), kicking and stepping the board accidentally (connections like DC and signal should not brake), dropping the unit while moving stuff from car to the stage (attachment of the effects and cables). Some things to consider, like the usage (can I put some pedal behind another and still push it on), and settings (paint marker, tapes, Stompshield, 3D printed covers). Colors or labels of the cables may help to find connections. The board should have contact information - just in case. I tend to write down the serials as I buy pedals - just in case.

As I think I wrote earlier, try different gauges before tossing the idea of a tight B. I tried several gauges before finding the functional string. Now I am very happy with the sound and feel.

This raised an instant Satriani feeling. Some Sorayama's robot could play that, too. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/JS1CR--ibanez-joe-satriani-signature-js1cr-chrome-boy

The picture definitely is poor as I took it with my phone in low light after the gig this evening. But there it stands. The effects board is for my fretless although this time I used it for my fretted bass. Soundwise it was a bit strange combination. Tomorrow I will use my fretted bass effects board. IE Divaricator: hi band to mooer Pitch box + Spruce effects OGF. Then all to Daring Audio Phat beam + COG T-16. IE FMeron was an add-on tonight. Glockenklang Soul - alusonic 2 x 12". As the house was full of nurses (only three men excluding the 9 men of our band), there were only fast or very fast songs this time. Let's see what it is gonna be tomorrow.

Any music is good music. Remember, that for some time you are the one that makes the song choices. My sons are already so big, that father's music is like I am, outdated. By the way, this was my road to happiness, when boys did not sleep: https://www.amazon.com/Tone-Fitness-Stability-Exercise-Equipment/dp/B07P5VYNZ1 I sat down on it and started to move a little while holding the kid in my arms. Boys fell to sleep in minutes. I saved gallons of gasoline and did not have to leave the house. The best £20 spent ever.

I am always open to ideas and suggestions. But the music is the final judge: if the idea works, it's fine. The ultimate is to reduce everything to minimum. To simplify. And remember legato. This is especially important to me as our band is 12 persons. In a trio context there would be far more space, there.

I have a cable that I soldered in early '90's. Still going strong. Key words: - Neutrik - Gotham (Cordial) silicone cable - decent amount of shrink tube - velcro to keep the cable tidy