Stub Mandrel

26 minutes ago, scrumpymike said:

This design is based on the Watkins Rapier that came out in the late '60s. My first bass was a pale blue one (also available in red) and I'd be all over one of these if the bridge wasn't so far from the bottom edge of the body. It just adds to the weight and negates the 'easy reach to the lower frets' benefit that many s-s basses offer. Even so, I'd still have a test run if I could find one locally.

I saw a 1960s Rapier for £700 in a Manchester music shop. Was lovely to look at and play. I nearly dropped the cash.

On the mend. thanks for good wishes.

12 minutes ago, JazzyJ said:

Looking back on this  thread, it was yourself that suggested the Boswellia.

So I took a punt on it, started off on two a day initially and reduced to one over the last few months.

All is good 👍 

 

Knowing what a PITA arthritis is I'm glad I helped! 

1 hour ago, chris_b said:

 

Enlighten us then. . . . . 

Copied from an old one. We've dropped a few and added a few.

1.    White Room    Tony 5 count    G 
2.    Wishing Well    All    Em 
3.    All Along the WT    Tony    Bb 
4.    Devil Woman    Rory    Dm 
5.    20th Century Boy    Mark    Am 
6.    What Is & what....    Nick    A 
7.    Remedy    All    F 
8.    War Pigs    All    Em 
9.    Crossroads    All    Am 
10.    Crazy Train    Neil    F# 
11.    Simple Man    Rory    C 
12.    We Gotta Get out.....    Mark    B 
13.    Hungry Like the Wolf    Rory    Em 
 
14.    Black Night    Tony/Neil    Em 
15.    Paranoid     Mark    Em 
16.    Rock n Roll    Tony    Am 
17.    Fire and Water    Rory    A 
18.    New Sensation    Tony & Mark    Em 
19.    Heroes     All    D 
20.    Pressure and Time    Tony    Em 
21.    Sympathy for the Devil    Tony    E 
22.    Gasoline    Rory    Bm 
23.    Sex Bomb     Mark    C 
24.    Hysteria    Neil    Am 
25.    Dakota    Rory    Em 
26.    Motorcycle Emptiness    All    Em 
27.    Sex On Fire    Rory    E 
28.    Saturday Night's Alright    Rory    G 
29.    Crazy Little Thing Called Love    Rory    D 
 
30.    Superstition    Tony    Em 
31.    Everlong    Rory, Tony    D 
 

On 05/07/2025 at 23:33, Woodinblack said:

 

No you would still mess up the change as you had got into a sort of daze of playing the same thing over and over.

I depped with a band and they said 'we leave out the change!'

Put it in at a jam and the guitarist remembered to as well!

Definite yes Saturday: 

16 hours ago, JazzyJ said:

I've had excellent results using Boswellia extract. Both thumb ip joints are now pain free, took about 2 months to kick in. Snake oil? I dunno, I'm happy with the outcome.

Not snake oil, it virtuallysaved my life. Arthritis UK surveyed the literature on scientific trials of traditional medicines. 

Studies: A 2014 Cochrane Review found that a three-month course of 100 mg a day of enriched (AKBA) Boswellia reduced OA pain by nearly 20 points and improved function by eight points (on 100-point scales) without serious side effects. In a 2018 systematic review of 20 OA supplements, Boswellia extract was among the standouts, providing significant short-term relief for knee, hip and hand pain. The Natural and Alternative Treatments database, which contains over 12,000 clinical studies, also gives Boswellia high marks for OA pain relief.  

Late report... you'll see why. Saturday's Bendrix Rock gig at Penarth Ex's was memorable for all the right and wrong reasons.

I help organising/publicising gigsat the club and it was where we had our first gig so I put out a press release bigging up our dinosaur connections. It got taken up by a local paper and I heard stories it was being talked about.

Expectations were high but we were down to a four piece. Indeed the drummer and lead guitarist handwrote two setlists of what we could do after setting up. We also had our mascot for the first time.

Around this time I got really dizzy while setting up some simple lights.

Tried rehydrating but was so bad when we soundchecked with War Pigs I expected the rapidly expanding audience to disappear. This was unusual as people normally arrive at quarter to nine. We had lots of new faces arriving from eight.

I did recover a bit but wasn't 100% right through and had a nasty wobble and nearly fell backwards playing Saturday Night's all Right.

We went down a storm. Right through the first set we got not applause, but cheering. We played War Pigs, Paranoid and Crazy Train (we had to from our list) and this went down well, of course, but so did everything else.

We finished saying we literally had no more songs (our current full band list is about 10 longer). But after several minutes of chanting and roaring we gave in and our singer said what do you want us to repeat. They all shouted "Muse". Fortunately it was Uprising not Hysteria! I turned up the sub on my octaver and you could see the audience's glee when I shook the whole building. Don't say people don't notice bass.

It took longer to deal with all the handshakes and well wishes than to pack up. Several people said how much better we were than our first gig.

I've been to literally hundreds of gigs there as it's my local club and I can honestly say it was as packed as I've ever seen it and the best reception I've ever had for a gig. People spilled over from the 'Music Alley' into the lounge, but were coming in to join the dancing.

We all agreed this was why we gig, and we donated a modest bit of our fee to the raffle for the stroke association.

I packed my gear, dropped it to my partner's nearby house and walked to the pub, feeling a little wobbly.

I joined her and friends but managed no more than a sip of my Inches cider when the bar stated pulsating and swaying.  She walked me home (I was crashing into walls and generally swaying like a drunk). I didn't get to the loo before the first 🤮

I ended up on the floor for three hours, my brother came over as we were told four hours for a priority ambulance. They got me downstairs somehow and I was lying in the porch contemplating how to get to his car when the blue lights appeared after less than an hour.

Cutting it short, it's probably severe positional vertigo. I puked so much I had to go on a drip but thanks to the wonderful NHS and lots of pills/IV, I am recovering and hoping to go home soon. Waiting on a cat scan to be sure it's not a brain injury.

So good and bad!

I gave the Performer an outing. It sounded glorious.

This really doesn't give an impression of how full it was.

5 hours ago, Leonard Smalls said:

Original Funky Drummer!

Lenny Henry!

Be aware that some Kays have little value, but the better ones are actually rather hood and yours is in that category. Not worth a fortune but not a throw-away.

(From a man with two Kay basses and a guitar, both inferior to yours).

On 06/07/2025 at 08:43, Phil Starr said:

Do I think they are out to please an audience of just themselves?

In BR we have a policy that everyone must approve all songs. We have two crowd pleasers which we endure to get people dancing. Otherwise the setlist is songs we all know and love or have been suggested and received enthusiastically.

We frequently get praised for our setlist 😁

On 05/07/2025 at 10:22, BabyBlueSound said:

the Plüm

Hope it works. Plüm duff would be embarrassing. 

On 04/07/2025 at 10:25, scrumpymike said:

Instead they have done what Gibson managed to do - squander the value of a 'heritage' brand name by messing with its DNA.

See the endless posts moaning about Fender not wanting to do anything different...

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.  

48 minutes ago, Buddster said:

Band want to do 500 miles. It goes down well with the punters. 

 

 

 

 

A little bit of me is dying inside 😩

You could have learnt it in the time it took to write that message.

4 hours ago, Terry M. said:

Maybe it is maybe it isn't. You're using a subjective term though when you say better.Play a bunch of USA basses and Squier ones and you'll know for definite. The ultimate test would be a blindfold one. We go to Sainsbury's and see McVities Digestive Biscuits and we see the Sainsbury's own brand version. Guess which one most people will assume is superior before even sampling either packet?  Well McVities make both despite the lower price of Sainsbury's "version". Leo used ash and alder based on cheapness and availability. It was not a tonewood choice in the beginning. There's no magic there so if a Squier is poplar bodied for example there is no inherent disadvantage other than what the user places on it based on preconceptions and prior association.

If I inspect my AVII closely it is pretty much flawless. My Squier 40th feels nicer to play with a satin neck and sounds very similar. But I love the Fender 

What's interesting to thois debate aren’t the few people with extreme views either way, it's what range of instruments/ brands do people with experience of many basses typically think.

One guide could be this thread:

Most seem to have a broad selection including a good sprinkle of Fenders.

There are a few who choose one maker, or even one style.

I have to ask... is it big enough to store basses in?

I have an AVII, a Mexican Flea Jazz and a Japanese Performer. 

I also have three Squiers.

They are all great instruments. I didn't buy the bad ones.

Support your local music shops so you can try before you buy.

The oroblem with collagen supplements is that for the body to absorb them they have to be broken down into bits - the same as any other protein. Rather like dismantling a lego model to push it through a hole.

Just as you can make a multitude of things with lego, the body will use these bits to make whatever proteins it needs.

Any balanced diet with plenty of protein is just as good at supplying these bits, and there's twelve time as much protein in 100g of baked beans as a typical collagen capsule.

Usually the collagen in the capsule is already broken down but the gut is damn good at digesting protein anyway.

The other issue is the body is full of collagen and won't necessarily target the joints that have wear. 

4 hours ago, Hellzero said:

I also prefer the tone of a passive bass, but certainly not a Fender, except if I have made a complete shielding, which will turn it into a usable instrument.

 

I can't figure how come they still can sell so badly made instruments at such a high price tag, especially custom shop ones.

YMMV

1 hour ago, nilorius said:

Donna Lee

hmm.

83 or 84.

Only because t'internet tells me 83 was Richard Thompson and 84 Hank Wangford.

Ws90 and 80 pair the same way.

The rest of what you need to know:

Won't be joining. My Kay collection.