Gonzo192

Hello people! I'm after a tortoise pickguard for my CIJ jazz bass. Lots knocking about online, obviously from Fender for one but I've noticed a few not super cheap but sort of mid-priced pickguards out there like 20 quid odd floating about. Anybody had any experience with these and if so what do they fit like? Is it virtually like for like or? I've got the tools to make modifications if it doesn't, but ideally if anyone's brought from somewhere that makes pretty good matches, links would be hugely appreciated! UK links would be preferred, by the time I've waited for shipping from the states in this current climate I probably would've just got fed up and bought a genuine one ha! Cheers!

@TheMaartian Nice! I do like the Transit series to be fair, it’s all but the same bag too I guess minus the waterproof cover, but like I said, If I knew I was gonna be carrying my pride and joy around outside for long enough to think ‘I better make sure I’ve got that waterproof over’ - I’d probably just not go wherever I was meant to be going 🤣 haha. Transit series looks so nice in that heather black colour too 👌🏼Cool little video as well! Thanks for your input dude.

@stewblack Cheers mate! Ah nice one man you won’t regret that, he’s super soft on the inside I wish I could live in it haha. Definitely bridges the gap between normal gig bags and a hard case this does, as do those higher priced Mono cases to be fair, just this one has so much storage space.

@dave_bass5 Haha no worries! Very positive review though. Highly recommended as I’m sure you’d agree!

Sorry man 🤣🤣 Haha! Tell me about it though, what a monster! Shame they're about 4 grand 😭

I love this feed. The G.A.S is very real here haha. I keep telling myself - “nah I’ve found My unicorn now & I ’ll keep onto this forever”. A nice Fender Jazz - exactly like I wanted. Japan import, not owned by every man and his dog locally, ‘62 reissue, nice eye popping Japan market colour - Happy days. Not super expensive but definitely on his way there for me anyway. Just before the threshold of having to explain to my misses that ‘it’s the one I really really really want’ you know? 😬🤣 ... but then green is my favourite colour 😅 so with that my top 3 G.A.S list has to start with this one: Like you @meterman this one’s not 4 string related (good choice by the way!) but I’m quite into my music production and I’ve always wanted one of these bad boys to get mental with some patch leads on. Finally is this little beauty, which I might be able to work a good angle on when we decorate the living room, fresh carpet and paint and that you know? “You know what darling, this one would look so subtle tucked in the corner there, really finish the room off it would, look lovely on our nice new carpet” 😅🤣 Wish me luck on that one.

I’m abit late on this, but I really recommend this one. Regularly reference this as a starting point, which eventually I aim to do less and less, using it as a sort of tool to help me understand the fretboard really. Its been sweet in recent times too, for example my mate will send me a clip of a riff he’s working on and he’s like ‘key of whatever’ and il have a little read up to see what I can work with and just have noodle, see what lines I can conjure up with it. Really useful way of understanding the fretboard, I reckon so anyway. It’s a hefty book. It’s got all the scales in every key and where you can play different variations of them across the whole neck, same with all the arpeggios, each laid out on mini fretboard diagrams up to the 17th fret, colour coded the lot it’s a beaut! I picked it up for like 12 quid off amazon, it’s an extremely useful tool to have. Keep it in my gigbag all the time now. https://www.halleonard.com/product/201827/bass-fretboard-atlas

Geddon Jonny! Local Plymouth buy right here! haha, small world. Not long picked up the bass after about 16 years of playing the drums. Loving it! Glad to hear you've picked it back up! Enjoy it man! Look forward to seeing your posts. Cheers!

I've reposted this in the reviews section! Only just realised that there's a dedicated reviews section on this. Getting my head round basschat slowly! Any feedback would be greatly appreciated on the review section. Cheers again people!

I originally posted this about half an hour ago in the 'gear' section after naturally realising that there is in fact, a dedicated space for reviews right here. Enjoy! ... Geddon Bass people! I'm working nights for the foreseeable future so in an effort to keep me awake tonight, I just wanted to ping this out there for those of you that might be in the market for a new bass case. As it's gone half 2 in the morning, my misses won't appreciate me ripping the case from under our bed to take photos, so I've took a bunch of screen shots of what this thing looks like from their website. Basically, a review? kind of .. So I've had this thing for like 6 months now. It really is a beauty and seems to be bit of a lesser seen gem in my neck of the woods. Quite clearly not a hardcase but very much a solid and well built gig bag, similar to the standard of protection you get from like a MONO case, except its 100 quid cheaper and it comes with a damn sight lot more storage. I reckon so anyway. The main plus for me on the MONO is that it looks the business for one (which is arguably the most important thing) and that massive shoe like bottom on the M80 is a stroke of genius. Anyway I went for this ... It's called the Gator 'PRO-GO' Series case and looks like what it looks like in the screenshots below! (Have a gander while you read this so you know what I'm on about) I bought this off Thomann about 6 months ago for 95 quid and I use it regularly. It gets chucked in the car, dragged to my mates house, bowled through my bass teachers studio, chucked out the window on the way out the lot. Ok no it doesn't. It's a case. Generally speaking I don't think it matters where you take it. Gigs or no gigs, things like this are only gonna wreck unless you're literally throwing it around or trying to light it on fire or something. I jump out my car, carry it to wherever I'm going and place it down, it'll scuff and fray a little bit here and there (which is has yet to!) - but that's about it. Maybe I'll do an update in years to come where the handles have fallen off and it doesn't zip up anymore but it did come with a lifetime guarantee, which ain't a bad crack! It's got a whacking great pocket at the front with 3 velcro loops on the inside where it flaps open, allowing your cables to neatly hang. I've got 2 instrument cables here, a 10ft cable, 5ft cable & a spare kettle lead. There's a fluffy pocket in the middle of all this which is made for a tablet. I fit an 8inch 'Samsung Galaxy A' tablet in this which is inside of its own case and there's space to spare. So you'd fit an iPad Pro or something in this I would've thought. Behind that, there's like a pocket for sheet music or books. I've got an A4 ring binder in this pocket with a load of material in from my tutor. Sitting in like the empty space if you will between my hanging cables and the tablet pocket I've got 2 A4 sized books, one full of scales and arpeggios in every key (which makes it a hefty book!) and an A4 notepad. On the inside of that flap there (where your cables hang on the velcro loops) there's 2 mini pockets at the bottom each big enough to fit a Polytune mini tuner pedal in or something similar. Zip pocket on the front of this flap, my go to strap & a spare one is in this. There's also one half way up where the neck would be which opens from the side, I don't use this for anything but he's there! At the very top on the front there's another decent sized pocket. Just a plain old pocket big enough for bits and bobs. In mine I manage to comfortably keep a 1oZ sort of sized tobacco tin full of picks, a KORG MA-2 metronome and the charger and cable for my Pedaltrain VOLTO. On the back of the case, right at the top there's a zip opening which inside contains a waterproof cover for the bag. I haven't needed to get this out yet as if it is raining - I'm literally in and out the car in seconds (which has never given me a problem) If you're on a bit of a walking mission though, this could be a lifesaver. What level of waterproofing this is exactly I can't say. I'm sure it works and works well, but I wouldn't want to be out for more than the car and back in the pouring rain with my bass - rain cover or not, so I'm probably never going to be able to review this aspect of it properly. Unless my car blows up. *Please don't blow up* As far as actually shifting it is concerned - you can wear it like a backpack. Although I've found that no matter what, you're gonna knock into doorframes doing this and although the bass is well protected, it's really annoying. I tend to either carry this like I do most backpacks, one strap a little less slack & chucked over whichever shoulder is more natural. If you're not into that you can tuck the straps away as shown in one of the screenshots or, as the straps are attached by carabiner clips and you can literally just remove them, leaving you with the option of carrying it the more traditional way, with the side handle, but whatever works for you! It's handy to be able to do both though especially if you need to manoeuvre around somewhere awkward. There's a pretty handy grasping point too on the front of the bag, which I use all the time while hoofing it in and out off the car. Finally onto why you want a case in the first place - the interior. On this, it's filled with a super plush micro fleece interior with nice thick padding on all sides. At the bottom of the bag where your strap button would sit is a nice chunky, sort of a dense foam covered in that same plush material. The neck lays down gently on a similar dense yet plush foam pillow, hugging the neck and keeping the headstock floating in position. Once you zip this thing up, your bass ain't going anywhere. The zip does go up and over too, so you can take your bass out and put it back in without having to lay the case down or awkwardly try and hold it while you figure out how to not drop anything. As well as this obviously - it can just be laid flat on it's back and opened up like a hard case. 'Can I fly with this?' - Absolutely not. I wouldn't fly with any 'gig bag' regardless of how much you spend on it. You're gonna want a full blown flight case for that, or something purpose built for a rammed cargo hold anyway. 'Can I lob my bass in the back of the van with this?' - I reckon you could yeah. Would I want to? Still no. I think like the mono, this type of thing is designed in such a way that, yes - it's going to keep your bass totally safe from the majority of 'normal' things life might chuck at it. Like knocking the case over, dropping it, falling off a small stage at practice or whatever and again, all of those things onto hard floors. You get the idea. Knowing my luck though, it would be totally safe dropping it from like 6ft or something accidentally, but the moment that I 'in the name of science' chuck it from the same height on purpose - that's when I smash my bass up. As an everyday thing, going to practice, local gigs, going round your mates, teachers place, just generally taking it out and about - this thing gets a 10 in my book. If you want to be critical about it, a fairer review would be that where it has more than adequate storage space and although there are two small plastic feet at the base of it - the exterior safety feature of the MONO M80 (the big giant rubber boot) is mental and certainly takes the win for added exterior protection. Would I chose that over this? Absolutely not. I can fit everything I need in this and more. It keeps it damn right safer than the average soft case you can pick up (including some of gator's cheaper alternatives) so as long as you're not throwing it out of windows or driving over it - you'd have done well to damage your bass using this. So as a 'bigger picture' thing. On the scale of 'gig bag' level of protection, (so forgetting about hard cases) based on a solid amount of protection AND a huge amount of practicality (plus it's pretty cheap for what it is!) I'll give this a solid 9.5 / 10. You can pick this up for around 95 - 100 quid now. What that is in dollars / Euros / YEN / whatever else I have no idea. But it ain't a bad price that's for sure. Link to the Gator site where I nicked the screens! - https://www.gatorcases.com/products/guitar/instrument-bassguitar/pro-go-ultimate-guitar-gig-bags/pro-go-guitar/bass-guitar-gig-bag-g-pg-bass/ Link to Thomann where I got mine (and where I nicked more screens!) - https://www.thomann.de/gb/gator_g_pg_bass_guitar_bag.htm?sid=c579cccd0fb973ad7bac781c2ffb27f6 (For the record - no. I don't work for Gator nor am I some sort of rep haha. I'm not sure how this works, if I'm allowed to post links or whatever but feedback will be much appreciated!) As a heads up - the link to the GATOR website doesn't show the backpack straps as being removable. Hence the screen from the Thomann website. Unsure if this is how the bag is now designed, though I would find that unlikely. Seems like a step backwards to me. Either way - apart from that, this is 100% the same bag. Let me know if you've got one yourself. This wasn't intended to be a review, but I got carried away and just went with it. Hope it's of some help! Cheers!

I use these https://www.thomann.de/gb/roland_ric_g10.htm No problems with it at all and it looks smart! Which is always a plus. I'd like to think that most reputable brands making cables would be half decent to be fair. For me though, Roland is a sort of champion of the low end sound, with like the 808 kick drum and early synths and stuff, so It's Roland all day long for me.

Geddon Bass people! I'm working nights for the foreseeable future so in an effort to keep me awake tonight, I just wanted to ping this out there for those of you that might be in the market for a new bass case. As it's gone half 2 in the morning, my misses won't appreciate me ripping the case from under our bed to take photos, so I've took a bunch of screen shots of what this thing looks like from their website. Basically, a review? kind of .. So I've had this thing for like 6 months now. It really is a beauty and seems to be bit of a lesser seen gem in my neck of the woods. Quite clearly not a hardcase but very much a solid and well built gig bag, similar to the standard of protection you get from like a MONO case, except its 100 quid cheaper and it comes with a damn sight lot more storage. I reckon so anyway. The main plus for me on the MONO is that it looks the business for one (which is arguably the most important thing) and that massive shoe like bottom on the M80 is a stroke of genius. Anyway I went for this ... It's called the Gator 'PRO-GO' Series case and looks like what it looks like in the screenshots below! (Have a gander while you read this so you know what I'm on about) I bought this off Thomann about 6 months ago for 95 quid and I use it regularly. It gets chucked in the car, dragged to my mates house, bowled through my bass teachers studio, chucked out the window on the way out the lot. Ok no it doesn't. It's a case. Generally speaking I don't think it matters where you take it. Gigs or no gigs, things like this are only gonna wreck unless you're literally throwing it around or trying to light it on fire or something. I jump out my car, carry it to wherever I'm going and place it down, it'll scuff and fray a little bit here and there (which is has yet to!) - but that's about it. Maybe I'll do an update in years to come where the handles have fallen off and it doesn't zip up anymore but it did come with a lifetime guarantee, which ain't a bad crack! It's got a whacking great pocket at the front with 3 velcro loops on the inside where it flaps open, allowing your cables to neatly hang. I've got 2 instrument cables here, a 10ft cable, 5ft cable & a spare kettle lead. There's a fluffy pocket in the middle of all this which is made for a tablet. I fit an 8inch 'Samsung Galaxy A' tablet in this which is inside of its own case and there's space to spare. So you'd fit an iPad Pro or something in this I would've thought. Behind that, there's like a pocket for sheet music or books. I've got an A4 ring binder in this pocket with a load of material in from my tutor. Sitting in like the empty space if you will between my hanging cables and the tablet pocket I've got 2 A4 sized books, one full of scales and arpeggios in every key (which makes it a hefty book!) and an A4 notepad. On the inside of that flap there (where your cables hang on the velcro loops) there's 2 mini pockets at the bottom each big enough to fit a Polytune mini tuner pedal in or something similar. Zip pocket on the front of this flap, my go to strap & a spare one is in this. There's also one half way up where the neck would be which opens from the side, I don't use this for anything but he's there! At the very top on the front there's another decent sized pocket. Just a plain old pocket big enough for bits and bobs. In mine I manage to comfortably keep a 1oZ sort of sized tobacco tin full of picks, a KORG MA-2 metronome and the charger and cable for my Pedaltrain VOLTO. On the back of the case, right at the top there's a zip opening which inside contains a waterproof cover for the bag. I haven't needed to get this out yet as if it is raining - I'm literally in and out the car in seconds (which has never given me a problem) If you're on a bit of a walking mission though, this could be a lifesaver. What level of waterproofing this is exactly I can't say. I'm sure it works and works well, but I wouldn't want to be out for more than the car and back in the pouring rain with my bass - rain cover or not, so I'm probably never going to be able to review this aspect of it properly. Unless my car blows up. *Please don't blow up* As far as actually shifting it is concerned - you can wear it like a backpack. Although I've found that no matter what, you're gonna knock into doorframes doing this and although the bass is well protected, it's really annoying. I tend to either carry this like I do most backpacks, one strap a little less slack & chucked over whichever shoulder is more natural. If you're not into that you can tuck the straps away as shown in one of the screenshots or, as the straps are attached by carabiner clips and you can literally just remove them, leaving you with the option of carrying it the more traditional way, with the side handle, but whatever works for you! It's handy to be able to do both though especially if you need to manoeuvre around somewhere awkward. There's a pretty handy grasping point too on the front of the bag, which I use all the time while hoofing it in and out off the car. Finally onto why you want a case in the first place - the interior. On this, it's filled with a super plush micro fleece interior with nice thick padding on all sides. At the bottom of the bag where your strap button would sit is a nice chunky, sort of a dense foam covered in that same plush material. The neck lays down gently on a similar dense yet plush foam pillow, hugging the neck and keeping the headstock floating in position. Once you zip this thing up, your bass ain't going anywhere. The zip does go up and over too, so you can take your bass out and put it back in without having to lay the case down or awkwardly try and hold it while you figure out how to not drop anything. As well as this obviously - it can just be laid flat on it's back and opened up like a hard case. 'Can I fly with this?' - Absolutely not. I wouldn't fly with any 'gig bag' regardless of how much you spend on it. You're gonna want a full blown flight case for that, or something purpose built for a rammed cargo hold anyway. 'Can I lob my bass in the back of the van with this?' - I reckon you could yeah. Would I want to? Still no. I think like the mono, this type of thing is designed in such a way that, yes - it's going to keep your bass totally safe from the majority of 'normal' things life might chuck at it. Like knocking the case over, dropping it, falling off a small stage at practice or whatever and again, all of those things onto hard floors. You get the idea. Knowing my luck though, it would be totally safe dropping it from like 6ft or something accidentally, but the moment that I 'in the name of science' chuck it from the same height on purpose - that's when I smash my bass up. As an everyday thing, going to practice, local gigs, going round your mates, teachers place, just generally taking it out and about - this thing gets a 10 in my book. If you want to be critical about it, a fairer review would be that where it has more than adequate storage space and although there are two small plastic feet at the base of it - the exterior safety feature of the MONO M80 (the big giant rubber boot) is mental and certainly takes the win for added exterior protection. Would I chose that over this? Absolutely not. I can fit everything I need in this and more. It keeps it damn right safer than the average soft case you can pick up (including some of gator's cheaper alternatives) so as long as you're not throwing it out of windows or driving over it - you'd have done well to damage your bass using this. So as a 'bigger picture' thing. On the scale of 'gig bag' level of protection, (so forgetting about hard cases) based on a solid amount of protection AND a huge amount of practicality (plus it's pretty cheap for what it is!) I'll give this a solid 9.5 / 10. You can pick this up for around 95 - 100 quid now. What that is in dollars / Euros / YEN / whatever else I have no idea. But it ain't a bad price that's for sure. Link to the Gator site where I nicked the screens! - https://www.gatorcases.com/products/guitar/instrument-bassguitar/pro-go-ultimate-guitar-gig-bags/pro-go-guitar/bass-guitar-gig-bag-g-pg-bass/ Link to Thomann where I got mine (and where I nicked more screens!) - https://www.thomann.de/gb/gator_g_pg_bass_guitar_bag.htm?sid=c579cccd0fb973ad7bac781c2ffb27f6 (For the record - no. I don't work for Gator nor am I some sort of rep haha. I'm not sure how this works, if I'm allowed to post links or whatever but feedback will be much appreciated!) As a heads up - the link to the GATOR website doesn't show the backpack straps as being removable. Hence the screen from the Thomann website. Unsure if this is how the bag is now designed, though I would find that unlikely. Seems like a step backwards to me. Either way - apart from that, this is 100% the same bag. Let me know if you've got one yourself. This wasn't intended to be a review, but I got carried away and just went with it. Hope it's of some help! Cheers!

Welcome mate! I was about your age when I first started to learn the drums. 28 now, recently picked up the Bass. You won’t regret learning an instrument dude! It teaches you an awful lot and makes you grow massively as a person - I reckon so anyway! There’s a wealth of knowledge readily available these days, quickly finding out that this place is an awesome resource, loads of people willing to help you out on this for sure. YouTube obviously is rammed full of people dishing out techniques for free, loads of good Bass interviews and bass related music history sort of stuff on there to chuck on for a nice bit of background noise too! As for playing mate, just enjoy it! Take it seriously but don’t take it seriously. In the sense that you wanna push yourself sometimes, but don’t be too hard on yourself constantly that it frustrates you. Learn / listen to things that you didn’t think you would be interested in as much as it’s important to listen & learn things you properly are interested in. (Cause nothing feels better to jamming to your favourite tunes to keep you into it!) It (might!) not happen over night. For the majority of the world, learning any instrument is a slow burner. Honestly though, you’ll look back in a year, couple years or even like 6 months from now and be like ‘woah - didn’t realise how much I’ve learnt’ look forward to seeing your posts dude! Enjoy.

Loads of great suggestions on this. Nice one. Cheers people!

@yorks5stringer @sammybee I’ve seen clips of Leland Sklar before, good shout! But thank you both, will check them both out properly.

Nice! Thanks mate, instant subscribe.

Hello people! I’m keen to follow more bass stuff on YouTube. Who do you recommend? I’m big into ‘all about the bass’ on Andertons, Scott’s Devine of Scott’s Bass Lessons is interesting to watch too, not just on the Bass Lessons front but with the interviews he does and the brand history sort of stuff - I love all that kinda thing. Adam Aarts does pretty cool gear demos, particularly of pedals to give you an idea of how it sounds on bass, which is what pushed me to buy my Walrus Audio Slö Reverb (which is nuts by the way - might do a review of that soon) I’d quite like to find some more interview sort of stuff cause that’s always cool to watch or stuff that engages the audience somehow, like jam tracks, posting in photos whatever! If anyone’s got any recommendations - put them on me! Cheers 😁

Thanks mate! It’s a super deep red and all. I’m well into it.

@Dad3353 @ezbass @SpondonBassed @baldwinbass Thanks! Looking forward it 😁

Walrus Audio Slö for me. It’s incredible. Doesn’t get much usage in a jam setting but I’m into my production stuff when it’s just me at home. It’s unreal at kicking out some dreamy / haunting ambience for trip hop stuff. Would be sick for post rock.

Hows it going people?! Been a drummer for going on 16 years, in more recent times I've come to realise just how much of a pain in the donkey it is to keep it up! As time's gone on it's proven to be about the most inconvenient instrument you could ever practice in terms of actually practicing (for me at least) forever sticking your hands in your pocket to book & pay for a dedicated space to have a jam, as opposed to being able to play your instrument while chilling out and watching TV, and the noise. It's a welcome change to be able to practice for real and make so little noise *cries* .. So long story short, about 5 months ago I started to pick up the bass for real after noodling about with it in the past. Started getting some lessons in with a guy local to me, best thing I've done in years. The transition from drums sort of goes hand in hand too, so I'm loving everything about it. While I'm here, any of you beauties stumbled across one of these before? I'm lucky enough to get my hands on this gorgeous CIJ '62 Reissue Jazz Bass from around 2004ish which came to me via a shout from my bass teacher who in his spare time, with his mate. Does this kind of underground loop of trading rare, vintage & lesser seen basses and shares them amongst his students as first dibs before they go online - Anyway so I told him as I'm really enjoying it & since I've never really invested in myself musically throughout the years at least not until recent times that I've always fancied a Jazz bass & if something a little different pops up one day then I'll go for it. So he sends me a link to get my head around how him and his mate do this thing and I'm greeted by this Japanese made beauty which obviously had to be in my favourite colour too. Dangerous combo. Since I whacked a holding deposit down on it and since then I've been keen to see more clips / photos of this thing in action. In my searches I start to notice that I can't find this exact model anywhere. Loads of '62 reissues in a plethora of different colours over the years - just none in this old candy apple red with a matching headstock. After about a week of detective work I managed to find 2 basses from real old postings online. One from a seller on Reverb oddly enough with a serial number 4 digits after this one. (though I'm not sure if that's just coincidence of if it literally was 4 in front of this one on the line!) and one from a Japanese retailer (of which I had to translate the page). According to the retailer, in around 2004ish Fender Japan did a 'shop order' model of the '62 reissue in old candy apple red with a matching headstock which came with the USA pickups. Apparently it's become a bit of a hidden gem in Japan because of the shop order thing, not everyone dug it and not many were ordered. How true this is, I literally do not know. Do I care? Well it might seem that way after my Sherlock Holmes of google sessions but to be honest, it's just for my own satisfaction really - the fact that at some point in it's life it's been imported to the UK and made it's way down to the shire tells me it's got a little bit of a story to tell and I kinda like that. Anyway, this is him. Insane nick for a 16 year old bass that's travelled half way round the world - so maybe it doesn't have an elaborate story after all - Shop, home, cupboard, plane, England. haha. Cheers!