Dom in Dorset

When I said Gillingham I meant Shaftesbury! Or maybe I went to a private gathering that only existed in my mind?

A church hall in Gillingham, no doubt Old Slapper will chime in with something more exact.

I've got a busy year ahead but if I'll be there if I can. To anyone who is undecided about going: Last years event was great, a simple formular : a bunch of bass players get together in a church hall, compare instruments amps , try stuff out, drink tea. If you were thinking "what would a P bass with flats sound like through an Ashdown speaker and a Trace Elliot head?" then it's the place you are most likely to get thye chance to find out.

The more time I spend on bass the less comfortable I am on gu*tar. I use a 12 string for writitng and find the feel moch nicer.

The problem with nickel is that it will tarnish and eventually turn green. This process can be accelerated by contact with sweaty fingers! Brushed aluminium or stainless steel would be better. You may even be able to take the shine off chrome plating with wire wool, I've never tried it so it might take the chrome off too.

I've tried Picato, fairly thin gauges but not very bassy in tone. I also hadtrouble with the binding coming off! THis happened to more than one string in more than one set. Both sets from the same source so could have been a bad batch or old stock. I'm now using Fender 9120M (58/72/92/110). Good price, plenty of bass, nice feel- they have a slightly woven feel to them unlike the Picato wich are almost totally smooth. I might well give D'Addarios a go on my twin neck, I'll be stringing the fretted side with D'addarios tomorrow. (chosen by price and favourite gauge 50/70/85/105)

Many , many years ago my older brother landed the lead guitar slot in a new band. They asked if he knew anyone who played bass, he recommended me. I'd owned a bass for a couple of months but didn't have much idea of what to do with it. The first rehearsal I sat at the back , kept my head down and did my best to keep up with root notes of the chords. My brother and the rest of the band were seriously good players, I thought that I wouldn't be asked back. The following week , my brother was fired and I was asked to stay on. Just do what you can, in my experience being thrown in at the deep end was a good thing, don't panic.

I also went to Newark Tech, but a few years after Chris Leslie! I've seen Fairport live a few times, the last time was at Glastonbury a couple of years ago. I watched the set from about 10' in front of Dave Pegg, I'd always loved his playing but seeing it that close up was awsome. He was playing a Crafter Centaur bass , I did some research and they were about £300, not usually found in the uk.

I did my last de-fret with super glue. You can get big bottles from model shops. JUst paint it on with cheap disposable brushes (DO THIS OUTSIDE THE FUMES ARE NASTY) put on at last three coats (let each coat dry) then cut back with 320, 400 and 600 emery, then pollish with t-cut.

My twin neck is 14lb, it's my main gigging bass. During rehursals I do sit down or lift it with hands to take the weight off between songs. The shear size of it does limit my jumping up and down at gigs but it does guarantee that I am the centre of attention.

Did the bass need much setting up after the transplant or did you just put the strings back and everything was fine?

At Glastonbury last year I was sat on the back of the van practicing for the next gig, (with bass guitar), a woman came up to me and said "what's the name of the bass player in your band?"

My mistake it's Musima and not Musema or Museuma. German for "poor quality firewood." Not my favourite necks but Ibanez is also worth a look.

Those musema things would be over priced even if free. they'd fit in here: [url="http://www.junkguitars.com/"]http://www.junkguitars.com/[/url] If they were a car they'd be a Reliant Robin with chickens nesting in it or a Trebant. They've got a certain junk shop chic , but if you want a descent reliable bass look elsewhere (but not junkguitars.com) a google search throws up lots of hits from a site called cheasey guitars.com, apparently they were East German, probably made from Bacolite to meet production quotas.

I'll second the Westfield, I recently tried one along side a Squier. The Squier was a P bass with jazz bridge pickup (not sure what model) the set up wasn't great and while the output was powerful the tone was muddy. The Westfield played beautifuly straight out of the box and the tone was superd, you could get all the fat P bass gorgeousness , turn upo the trebble and it had a prety descent slap sound, nice clear well rounded tone. That one was (I think £99 new!)

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/No1-Alder-2-1kg-precision-bass-electric-Guitar-body-/130320203632?pt=UK_Guitar_Accessories&hash=item1e57b07f70"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/No1-Alder-2-1kg-prec...=item1e57b07f70[/url]

[quote name='yorick' post='1085285' date='Jan 11 2011, 11:17 AM']Nice, but bl@@dy heavy..............[/quote] Looks are more important than a spine.

That is drop dead gorgeous! It's amazing what a bit of fungus will do. I've used CH many times,I've nothing but praise.

[quote name='ianSB' post='1085048' date='Jan 10 2011, 11:56 PM']they have neck dive written all over them[/quote] Not if you hold them correctly, right forearm resting on back horn.

I'm not keen on the colour, appart from that I've been trying to work out what it is about it that i don't like. I think: Scratch plate , lowe horn and headstock.

My initial reaction was "yuk" , I'm worried that I might start to like the look of it, am I normal?

Note that while the rest of the band are apes the drummer is a monkey.

It does seem a tad unfair to pick on the bass playing as not Wyman like! I don't remember the Stones having a violin player or a belly dancer and your vocalist is about as un-Jagger like as you could get!

I've noticed in the technical data that it says that they recommend two nine volt batteries, are they battery hungry, do they last? Or is one battery ok, two overkill? I've got them in mind for another twin neck and it could be a costly beast to keep on the road!

"I suggest you hand on to it and learn to play!" - or trade it in for a right handed one.