Dom in Dorset

Well, the waters of Sennen Cove failed to yield a suitable driftwood bass body but On a trip to Yandles sawmill to buy ebony I found this piece of spalted beach: A bit of bandsawing: (I also ran a router over the surface to reduce the thickness. Further refinement: You can't see from the picture but there are more worm holes than an entire series of Star Trek , I'm going to dowse it in wood hardener to firm up any porous areas and hopefully kill or at least p1ss off any remaining wood worm. I don't know why the earlier pictures have gone, I'll re-post if anyone is interested.

Still interested, can't confirm just yet , but 90% certain (I need to run it past Mrs inSomerset who's in the states until No1st, I can't think of a problem with my attendance but there could be something I've forgotten like children's birthday, wedding anniversary, the date set for my brain transplant etc) I hope to bring: 2006 US Jazz Bitza P body fretless Jazz The Brown Special acoustic fretless

I built an a fretless out of spare parts to test a few ideas, I used Jazz pickups from a Lindo "Red Tiger" bass. My intention was to use the "Triggers Broom principal" ie built it with whatever bits come to hand , replacing parts as better ones come available, until all of the original parts are gone. The pickups were a big surprize- superb output and tone, exactly what i was after (slightly higher output than my Fender even with nylon coated strings) I may get through six necks and four bodies but the Lindo pickups will stay.

It can be as much down to the market at any particular time. Last year I was saving up to buy an Aerodyne, while I was getting the money together ebay was full of them going for £400-£500, sometimes not selling at all. By the time I'd saved up the money there was one, going for silly money. I bought a US 2006 jazz from the market place here in the end, when I got it the set up was lousy (I noticed that only the delux models were set up well on a trip to Guitar Guitar) Took a bit of effort to get it going but it's now exactly what I was after.

The term "folk session" usually implies an informal gathering of people in a pub , sitting around a table or in a circle playing tunes, no PA.

I've owned several acoustic basses and I have found that it's often the cheap nasty smaller bodies ones that produce more volume, they are also more metallic sounding and will cut through more. Larger bodied , better quality basses make a nicer sound but don't cut through so much. I have played mine in several folk sessions with mixed results: Works better in a smaller room. Depends how many (and what type of) other instruments join in. How you play- to up the volume you have to work hard, I find a pick is too clunky sounding. I have been known to play slap! Depends what you are trying to achieve , sensitive 12th fret noodling is out , but solid root note grooves with lots of open strings are ok.

[b] "any bassists up in this mutha f*cker??? (BATH/BRISTOL)[/b] NU METAL...18+ GET ON IT" - Posted by someone calling themself "Krazy7"

I've penciled it in but can't confirm for a couple of weeks. I'll contact a couple of other local players.

[quote name='gafbass02' timestamp='1350373777' post='1837831'] I'm painfully shy so I've not been to one yet. Been building up the guts for years! I'm in Cheltenham so if its close enough I'd like to pop along this time. [/quote] There's really nothing to worry about, we are a perfectly nice and friendly bunch, once you've been through the humiliating and painful initiation ceremony you'll why you were ever worried about coming in the first place.

Without my glasses i thought it said "humping"

Precisely that problem. I put new strings on (D'Addario nickel round wound) and the output shot up. I don't know what the strings that were on it when I bought it but they didn't look old and sounded ok acousticlly. So unless you are 100% certain of your strings it's worth a go. The other thing was that I was playing with both pickups on full volume, this actually causes a volume drop. Everyone uses a slightly different blend but for me it's full on neck , half bridge. My brother also has a jazz bass and he does it the other way round

A US Fender standard jazz with a maple board. I've always wanted a bass with a Maple board and I have an almost pointless urge to keep a second fretted jazz bass strung with nylon wound strings.

It was like going to a really good music shop , they had a huge range of interesting basses and amps to try and the staff knew what they were talking about. I found it really useful but then I'm only 30 mins away.

I've PM'd oldslapper to find what venue we used. It was a church hall ,I think in Sherborne, we had btween 10 and 20 attend. Edit I did some searching and found it : Shaftesbury Christian Centre, Christies Lane, Shaftesbury SP7 8PH The relevant thread: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/85532-dorset-bass-bash-11th-july/page__st__60__p__889867__hl__south%20west%20bass%20bash__fromsearch__1#entry889867

The key factor for me is that [u]they need a bass player[/u]- beggars can't be choosers. They seem to want it all, someone who's really good and will turn up to four rehearsals. As I see it they may have to settle for either someone who wants the experience but may not be the great player they had in mind or an experienced player who will just breeze into the gig without rehearsing take the £50 and go.

Old Slapper organized a bash in Sherborne(?) a couple of years ago, I can't remember where exactly. I might be interested , can't guarantee it at the moment.

I played a five for years , I bought it when I was trying to be Dave Pegg. I never found much use for the B string and could never get a usable sound from it. It was my only bass for years until one day I picked up a four again, never looked back. If money were no object I'd be tempted by a five string P for sight reading gigs (bass lines written by none bass players often do some odd but interesting things that would be easier with the low b

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1349965973' post='1832841'] ....... yeah, you conveniently omitted to mention the neckdive it caused though! [/quote] I fixed it by fitting a pre-amp as a counterweight. (it's not wired in though)

I t took me a while to get mine sounding nice, new strings made a huge difference as did experimenting with volume and tone settings on the amp and the bass. I was playing a precision before and couldn't get the bassiness I was after until I worked out that i should use neck pickup on full bridge on half. as for up grades , the tuners are great , it stays in tune for ever. It's through strung so I can't see what difference a new bridge would make. I'm getting the sound I wanted so the pickups can stay. Pre-amp? tried actives , didn't like them, passive all the way for me. I did change the white scratch plate for a grey tort one, the tone , response, intonation, sustain, output, coolness were all much improved.

Thanks to everyone for their input. I play in a similar band to Burrito (but not quite as good) although I mostly want one for goofing around at home. I think I'll get one as soon as cash flow improves.

I'm thinking of getting a little practice amp , I do a lot of quiet stuff with acoustic musicians , I want to leave my big amp over at the loud band's regular rehearsal room to make space at home. A guitarist I know has a tiny Vox amp that makes a surprisingly good noise , the pathfinder seems like a good deal. Anyone tried one? http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Vox-Pathfinder-10-Bass-Combo-Amp-with-FREE-6m-Instrument-Cable/N2W

Or just get a guitar?

Weren't "Lemmy" and "Sting" their nick names long before they were performers? I recently did a stint depping in a tongue in cheek country band called The Johnsons. Their act is that they are brothers (and sisters) ,anything up to seven or eight of them. They all have stage names --------- Johnson. Clint, Garry-Lee,Zac,Elli-May, Johnny "Geetar" etc For the duration of my stay I was known as "Duke" (pronounced "Dook") Johnson.

I am happy with the pickups that I have but I may at some point want to make or adapt another bass using something similar. I was told that they came from a Lindo bass (under £100 I think) , I'm pretty certain it's one of these: